Light a fire in my heart
by Tachunky
Summary: Maverick's blowtorch can cut through anything, but can he break through the defenses of a certain Spanish operator? (Yeah I'm still bad at summaries. Please just read it.)
1. Chapter 1

**Anyone remember Mira? Yeah I felt bad for how lonely I made her look so I wrote this. Hope you enjoy. This is completely AU by the way so everything that happened in the first story never happened here.**

 **...**

Mira woke up with a groan, cursing at her alarm clock for waking her up. She tossed her blanket off and stretched, looking over to the other bed only to find it empty. Julien probably slept at Monika's room again. He usually does that if their session was way too rough and he couldn't be bothered to walk all the way back. Mira looked at herself. Maybe it wasn't so bad that Rook wasn't here since the clothes she went to bed with last night weren't exactly modest.

She got up, took the cleanest shirt she could find and put it on. She tugged on her cycling shorts. Sure they were short, but they weren't inappropriately short. At least not by Six's standards, which was good enough for her. She stretched one last time before exiting her room.

Time to start the day.

Mira walked to the cafeteria to eat breakfast, looking for a table to sit at after getting her food. The cafeteria wasn't crowded, half of Team Rainbow already running errands for the day while the other half hasn't gotten out of bed yet. Mira sat with Valkyrie, who was just getting started on her omelet.

"You're up early." Valkyrie said as Mira sat down.

"Yeah, I forgot to turn my alarm clock off. Stupid thing woke me up."

"Its not that bad Elena. For once you woke up before noon."

Mira took a bite from her toast. "No offense Meghan, but the people who wake up early on purpose, people like you, are boring. That's why I wake up late so all the people I interact with are actually interesting."

"Some offense taken." Valkyrie said "Besides, you need to get used to waking up early, you have an op soon don't you?"

"I just got that stupid thought out of my head." Mira said "Thanks for reminding me, now I have to forget it again."

"Don't be like that Elena." Valkyrie said "Going on operations can be fun."

Mira scoffed. "Maybe for you, but I like staying here."

Rook and IQ sat down on their table and Mira and Valkyrie stopped their conversation to poke fun at their friends.

"Any reason you winced when you sat down Monika?" Mira asked.

IQ's face turned red. "Shut up Elena."

"Woah she spoke. I figured your jaw was sore as well." Valkyrie chimed in.

"God you two are gross." IQ said "I'm getting some breakfast."

Mira watched IQ walk away before turning to Rook. "Seriously though Julien. Monika is like, ten years older than you. Don't you guys feel weird about it?"

Rook sighed. "You're lucky you guys are close friends of mine otherwise I would have bitch slapped you for that question." He said, not in the mood to discuss him and IQ being together "Yes. It felt weird at first but when were in bed together for the first time it just, it felt right."

IQ sat back down with them. "I can hear from there you know. Pretty ironic the woman with no love life talks about mine."

"Too far Monika."

IQ shrugged. "You started it."

They finished eating and went their separate ways, although Mira saw IQ follow Rook to his room. Mira shook her head. _You better not do it on my bed._ Mira walked over to the workshop, trying to work on an issue with her black mirrors where they sometimes cut through the reinforcement but not the wall itself. If she recalls correctly, she still has one reinforced wall left for testing on her workbench.

She reached her workbench and took a look at the piece of reinforced wall on her workbench, which now had multiple holes on it.

"The hell?" Mira muttered.

Only Jordan and Yumiko were able to cut through reinforced walls and these holes were way to small for either of their gadgets. No, this was the work of someone else. Fortunately for her, Mira was spared the trouble of looking for that someone else when a man entered the workshop after her, holding a propane tank. Mira watched him walk to one of the empty workbenches and attach the propane tank to his blowtorch before deciding to confront him.

"Hey," Mira said, snapping her fingers to get his attention "did you do this?" she pointed to the reinforced wall.

The man finished loading his blowtorch before responding to Mira. "Yeah, I was testing the blowtorch, I wanted to see how long I needed burn a wall before it opens up. It helps me be more efficient with the-"

"I don't care." Mira cut him off "That was the last reinforced wall I had and you ruined it."

The man rubbed the back of his head as he looked at the piece of the wall. Now that Mira mentioned it, he may have gone a bit overboard with the holes. "Sorry. I just thought that since it was on the workbench where scrap was piled up I thought no one was using it."

Mira couldn't believe her ears. Ruining her wall was one thing, but now this man was calling her things scrap. He went from irritating her to pissing her off.

"Ok _pendejo_ , you're new here aren't you."

The man nodded.

"No one probably told you yet, but that 'scrap pile' is where I work and I don't like it when people touch my stuff, let alone ruin it."

"Ok, calm down. I didn't know."

This man was outrageous. After ruining the last piece of wall she had and calling her work scrap, he's telling her to calm down. Mira wasn't having any of it.

"Ok, here's what you're going to do. You're going to shut up, then you're going to cut another piece from a reinforced wall to replace what you used."

The man went back to his workbench and fiddled with his blowtorch a bit.

"Are you deaf? I told you to-"

"How am I supposed to cut it without my torch?" he left, muttering something under his breath, which for his sake, Mira chose to ignore. She sighed, she was already grumpy from being woken up early before having this interaction. Hopefully nothing else happens today that will piss her off.

But of course, just her luck, something did happen.

…

Lunchtime. Mira and Valkyrie sat together again, minding their own business as they ate when they heard their names get called on the intercom. They were supposed to go to the simulation room for a randomized training session. Mira groaned, she always hated these training sessions due to the fact that you had to drop whatever you're doing to go to them. The only way you were spared of attending was if you were sick or injured, and Mira doubted Six would believe she didn't feel well for the sixth time in a row. Probably since she goy caught in the rec room when she said she was just going to stay in bed the whole day.

The two of them walked to the simulation room, and Mira immediately complained about the new setup. Now it actually looked like a real site, complete with objective rooms and all that instead of just ten virtual reality rigs since no one really took the VR simulations seriously. Buck was a repeat offender of this, running into the objectives while cooking a grenade, killing everyone including himself, and on a few occasions, a hostage. She couldn't blame him though, it may have caused them countless losses but it was always funny to watch.

Six got fed up with it and eventually removed the VR and had this site built. Now that they are actually the ones doing it, people were now more careful since they were afraid of getting hurt. Sure they were only using paintballs, but it still left bruises the next day. Mira and Valkyrie headed to the area where the defenders were waiting for them, namely Ela and Jager. Mira looked at the attackers and saw Zofia, Buck, Ash and the man who burned her wall.

Perfect.

Mira's plans on how she was going to cover him in paint were interrupted when Valkyrie noticed something.

"There's only eight of us. I thought all practice sessions were five on five."

"Julien and Monika are supposed to be the last two." Jager said.

"Well where are they?"

"Are you really asking that question?" Ela said.

"Fair point." Valkyrie said, looking over at Six who was talking to the recruit working the control panel on the simulation, turning red from how pissed she was.

"Fuck it! We'll start without them."

The bell rang and they all ran to their stations, trying to do all they can to prepare in their roughly fifty second preparation time. Valkyrie ran out of the objective to place cameras while the three of them prepped the objective room. It was a standard secure area objective with the enemies just having to be inside the room to secure it. Mira never really understood how that was supposed to work, but ok.

She reinforced a few walls and place her mirrors on them. Twenty seconds left. By now, Valkyrie had gotten back and stayed at the room next to the objective and Jager and Ela ran out to roam, or in Ela's case, spawnpeek.

"Ready?" the recruit asked "Simulation starts now! You have three minutes."

After a few seconds, Mira heard Ela fire a few shots, then a few shots from the outside. She then saw Ela and Ash walk to the sidelines, arms raised to show they were both dead. _Even trade._ Mira thought. It was a three on three now, and the attackers had already entered.

Mira saw Zofia rush to the room next to them, right where Valkyrie was. Mira heard a beep followed by an explosion and Zofia walked out, covered head to toe in paint. How Valkyrie managed to make a nitro cell paint bomb, she'll never know. She went on the cams, switching to the hallway cam just in time to see Jager get shot. He raised his hands and walked past Buck, who nodded to him as he barreled down the hall towards the objective. She barely had time to warn Valkyrie before she too had paint on her, courtesy of Buck.

Mira waited for Buck to get closer before quickly peeking her head out and pelting Buck with paint before he even realized there was a black mirror there.

"Well played Elena, well played. Good luck." He said before raising his hands and walked back.

Mira chuckled and shook her head. _Canadians._

It was just her and that man left, and there was only fifteen seconds left. With all the walls reinforced and her guarding the only entrance, this was in the bag. Ten seconds passed by and he still haven't showed up. He probably just hid, preferring to just loose instead of risking humiliation by being killed by her. She didn't blame him, she would have done the same if she was in his pos-

 _Bang._

Mira felt a paintball hit her in the back of the head and the bell rang, signaling the attackers' victory. Mira turned around and saw the man peeking through a hole in the reinforced wall behind her. He smiled.

She walked back to the others in defeat, being comforted in multiple _nice try_ 's from Valkyrie, Ela and Jager. She saw the man walk towards his team and they congratulated him, the sight of his smug grin for some reason made Mira walk over to him.

""What the fuck was that?!" Mira asked, not realizing she was yelling.

Even though he was being yelled at, he extended his arm to Mira. "Good game."

Mira slapped his hand away. "Look around _pendejo_ , everyone else only has paint on their bodies. That because we're not supposed to shoot each other in the head."

"Oh, I'm sorry I didn't-"

"What, you didn't know?" she asked "You seem to not know a lot of things, don't you?"

Before he could respond, Mira stormed off to the showers so she can wash the paint off her hair. Valkyrie caught up to her although thankfully she didn't ask what all that was about. The two of them reached the showers and grabbed their stuff from their lockers as they waited for a stall to open. Mira looked down at the gap between the stall door and the floor and one of them had the shower floor covered in paint.

"That's Zofia isn't it?" Mira asked.

Valkyrie nodded. "Yup. Her hair's gonna be pink for a while."

"At least it will match her sister's."

"What about her sister?" Ela asked as she grabbed her stuff and joined them in the line.

Before either of them can answer, Zofia emerged wearing just a towel making Ela abruptly turn and leave the room. Zofia sighed and walked behind the lockers to get changed.

"What was that about, I thought they reconciled already." Mira asked once Zofia was out of earshot.

"They did." Valkyrie said "Ela's just been acting weird around her since she came out. I tried to talk to her about it but she told me it was nothing. Her red cheeks say otherwise, though."

"The Bosak sisters are weird."

"Agreed. You shower first, you did the most out of all of us."

"You sure?"

Valkyrie shrugged. "Most of the paint is just on my clothes. You have paint in your hair." She said "Just hurry in there, don't, uh, you know-" Valkyrie made a rubbing gesture with two of her fingers.

Mira's face turned redder than the paint in her hair. "That was one time Meghan!"

"You can lie to yourself Elena but not to me." Valkyrie smirked.

"Shut up Meghan." Mira said as she walked in the showers and stripped her clothes off, slightly embarrassed since she actually was planning on relieving some stress through that method. No matter, there was always later. For now, she just wanted to calm down and let the hot water crash against her skin.

…

Just as Mira finished putting her clothes on, the intercom called for her name and told her to go to Six's office and after that little outburst, she wasn't surprised. She dried her hair and walked to her office, preparing her excuse in her mind for why she yelled at someone over an honest mistake.

"You asked for me?" Mira asked, poking her head through the door.

Six nodded and Mira entered, seeing that the man was there as well, sitting in one of the two chairs in front of Six's desk.

"Sit." Six ordered and Mira complied "You have an operation soon, right Alvarez?"

Mira nodded. She didn't really want to talk about it but at least Six wasn't reprimanding her for yelling at the man next to her.

"Something has come up and-"

"You called?" Rook and IQ entered, cutting Six mid-sentence "Oh, nevermind. We'll just come back later."

"Get your asses in here!" Six yelled as they turned to leave.

Rook and IQ closed the door and stood there as Six stared them down. "Where were you during practice?"

"We didn't feel good." IQ said.

"Both of you? At the same time?" Six asked "If you're going to give me an excuse you better make sure its not bullshit."

"It wasn't an excu-"

"I know about you two." Six said, making both their hearts stop "Its against the no fraternization policy but I let it slide because I thought it won't affect your performance on the field. If you can't even attend practice because of that then I was clearly wrong."

"With all do respect Six, the VR simulations aren't even realistic. Nothing that happens there will ever happen in the field."

"We don't use VR anymore!" Six yelled, frustrated "You have missed so many practices that you're not aware we switched to paintballs since last month."

"That's why Elena comes to the room with pink all over her sometimes." Rook said, not taking this as seriously as he should, which only pissed Six off more.

"That's enough! The next time this happens I'm locking both of you in chastity belts." She said "You're both suspended. Get out of my office."

"What?" Rook asked "You can't suspend me I'm supposed to go on an operation with Elena."

"Well you should have thought of that before missing practice to get your rocks off. Get out."

Rook and IQ turned to leave and Six turned back to Mira.

"Six, with all due respect, I can't go on that op by myself."

"You're not." Six said "That's why I called you. Say hi to your new partner."

Mira looked at the man next to her. "Oh you have got to be kidding me."

…

"What did she say?" Valkyrie asked as Mira walked in the rec room.

Mira sat down on the couch and put her feet up on the coffee table. "She called me to talk about that new guy."

"Ouch. What happened, did she make you apologize?"

"Worse. She made him my partner."

"What?" Valkyrie asked, leaning forward, now interested in the conversation.

"Yeah. Julien and Monika got suspended although I don't think even they were surprised by that. Julien was supposed to come with me on my op but since he can't, Six told me to take the new guy."

"At least you're not going alone." Valkyrie said.

"But if going with him is the alternative I'd rather go alone." Mira said "I'm going to bed. Goodnight."

Valkyrie nodded and Mira left, walking back to the east wing of the dorms. She had inserted the keys in the lock when someone called for her.

"Hey!"

Mira turned the voice and saw the man she yelled at walking towards her. She sighed as she turned to him, not in the mood for whatever this was.

"What do you want?" she asked.

"I just wanted to apologize if we got off on the wrong foot."

Mira blinked at him. Of all the things she thought he would say, that wasn't one of them. In fact, looking back, she should be the onee apologizing to him and yet here he was.

"Uh, sure. Do you want to start over? Elena Maria Alvarez." Mira said, offering him her hand.

The man shook it. "Thorn," he said "Erik Thorn."


	2. Chapter 2

"Nice to meet you Erik. I'm sparring tomorrow in preparation for the op. You're free to join if you want."

Maverick nodded. "Maybe I will." He said.

He watched Mira turn around and enter her room, shriek then leave the room, her cheeks red. A few seconds later, a blonde woman exited the room, trying her best not to make eye contact with anyone as she walked to the west wing of the dorms. Mira went in the room again, scolding someone inside after she closed the door.

Maverick chuckled. She sounds like his mom whenever he did something wrong. He walked back to his room and entered where a woman was reading a book on her bed. She closed it when she saw him enter.

"Did you talk to her?" she asked.

Maverick nodded. "Yes Taina, I did."

"And what did she say?"

Maverick took his shoes off and sat on his bed. "She said she wanted to start over." He said "In fact, she even invited me to spar with her tomorrow."

"I told you, just talk to her. Unless you really pissed her off, Elena usually gets over anything after a day or so."

"Or she's just looking for a way to beat my ass into the ground without breaking any rules. She can't do that can she?"

Caveira chuckled. "She can do anything she wants. Ever since Maxim cut Lera's face open and she broke his ribs, everyone just agreed that whatever happens in sparring stays in sparring."

"So I'm screwed."

"Not really." Caveira said "Maybe she's just trying to scare you. I mean, that's what I would do if I wanted to scare Timur."

"What is your deal with him anyway? You clearly like him and yet you're scaring him so much that he barely interacts with you anymore."

Caveira shrugged. "I'm testing him first. If he manages to survive all that, he's definitely a keeper. So for now, I'm scaring him."

"Well no offense Taina, but you're not scaring anyone with that pink Hello Kitty shirt." Maverick said "Who knew the dark and scary Caveira was actually just a big softie."

"You won't be thinking that whem you're holding your guts in your hands after I've sliced your stomach open."

"Sure you will."

"Don't test me Erik." Caveira jokingly threatened "I may be secretely girly but I can still kill you in more ways than you can count."

"Whatever." Maverick said, switching the lights off "Goodnight."

Caveira grunted a response as she rolled over to sleep. Maverick did the same and after a few seconds, he was taken to the land of the unconcious.

…

Maverick sat up groggily, slamming his hand on his desk a few times before finally finding the snooze button on his alarm.

"You have to learn to wake up earlier than that Erik."

Caveira sat cross-legged on her bed as she watched him get up. "Don't you have anything better to do?" Maverick asked.

Caveira shook her head. "Not really. I don't have any operations on my schedule at the moment. Timur's still asleep, and scaring everyone else got boring."

"You can always come out to everyone as the pink-wearing, teddy bear hugging softie you really are."

Caveira scoffed. "Oh please, I'd sleep with you before I'd do that."

"You hurt me Taina."

Caveira shrugged as she put on the black everything she always wears whenever she's around anyone that she's not close with. Or Erik, since she had no choice but to tell him when Six assigned him as her roommate.

They left the room together, walking to the mess hall for breakfast. After getting the slob that passes for food in Rainbow, they sat down with Buck, who immediately commented about Caveira.

"So, which Taina am I looking at right now?" he asked.

"The Taina that will kill you if you ever mention the other Taina again."

Buck chuckled. "Oh, _that_ Taina." He said "Ok then. Tell me, if you ever make a move on Glazkov, will you show him who you really are?"

Caveira calmly took a bite of her food before looking back at Buck. "You may think its funny now Cote, but remember, being my friend will only make it hurt more when I finally do kill you."

Buck shrugged at her before turning to Maverick. "So, what happened between you and Alvarez?" he asked "She still mad at you?"

"Is your life so boring that you meddle with te life of others?"

"Yes." Buck said flatly "Spill it."

"He apologized to her." Caveira answered for him "She invited him to spar with her, said shhe wanted to start over."

"Or she just wants to beat him to the ground without going against any of the rules."

Maverick looked at Caveira, who just rolled her eyes at him. After finishing his breakfast, Maverick checked his watch. Mira should probably be awake by now, she was in the workshop way earlier than this yesterday, after all. He got up and told the others he was off to the gym.

He heard someone grunting while they hit a punching bag as he neared the gym. Expecting to see Mira, he entered only to see that it wasn't her in there. Instead, a redhead was wrapping bandages around her fists as she prepared to start punching again. She saw him enter and she waved at him.

"Hey, you're new here right?" she asked.

Maverick nodded, offering her his hand. "Erik Thorn."

"Eliza Cohen." She said, shaking his hand "The punching back is getting boring, you mind helping me out?" Ash pointed to one of the padded sparing gloves.

Maverick shrugged, walked over to them and put them on. He clapped his hands together before turnin to Ash. "You ready?" he asked.

Ash nodded and began to hit them, Maverick pushing back at her fists each time she did. Everytime it felt repetitive, he threw her a curveball to keep her on her toes. After a while, Ash stopped, resting her hands on her legs as she panted.

"How are you so good at that?"

"It was how I trained back while I was locked away." Maverick said.

"Really? Then why still train now?"

"A little refresher can't hurt. Besides, I'm waiting for someone, we're supposed to be training for an op but she's not here yet."

Ash asked who that person was but before Maverick could answer, he saw Ash scowl as her expression turned sour. Maverick turned around to see what Ash was looking at and saw Mira enter the gym, followed by Rook.

"Look he decided to get out of bed this morning." Ash snarled "What are you doing here Alvarez?"

"You don't own the gym Cohen. I have as much right to be here as you do." Mira said "Come on Erik. Six said she'll give us more information about the operation."

Maverick was surprised by Ash's sudden hostility when Mira arrived. "I thought we were sparring."

"You should get used to that Thorn. That bitch never keeps her word." Ash said.

Mira walked up to Ash, dropping her bag as she pushed Maverick aside. "What is your problem Cohen?"

"You know exactly what my problem with you is Alvarez. Don't pretend. It didn't work then, and it won't work now."

"What's happening?" Maverick whispered to Rook.

"The two of them went on an operation once, they've been down each other's throat ever since they got back. Elena never told anyone what happened on that op, but it was definitely something bad if they're still pissed about it after all these years."

Maverick looked back at the two, who were still yelling at each other.

"I don't need this!" Mira yelled "Come on Erik, let's go."

Ash pushed Mira from behind. "That's right run. Run back to the sad collection of vibrators and dildos you call your sex life."

Mira turned around and struck Ash in the face so fast, Maverick barely had time to register what happened. Ash stumbled backwards, clutching her bleeding nose. She spat some blood out and cocked her fist back when Rook jumped in the middle of them.

"That's enough!" he yelled "Find a way to work whatever the fuck it is between you two out because this isn't helping."

Ash glared daggers at Mira but decided not to escalate things further. She picked her stuff up and walked out the gym, hitting Mira with her shoulder when she did. No one said anything as they watched her leave. Mira picked her bag up and walked out as well. Stopping by the door, she called for Maverick over her shoulder.

"I'm waiting Erik."

"I'd listen to her if I were you." Rook said, taking a rag so he can clean up the blood Ash spat, removing any evidence to the exchange that happened between her and Mira.

Maverick followed Mira out the hallway, grabbing her shoulder when he caught up. "What was that?" he asked.

"What happens in sparring stays in sparring Erik."

"The wasn't sparring Elena, you just straight up decked her now tell me what that was all about."

Mira stopped walking, making Maverick stop as well. "Look, I just met you so I'm sorry if I'm not yet comfortable telling you something I haven't even told my best friend yet. Now come on, for the last time, Six is waiting for us."

Maverick sighed and followed her to Six's office. She knocked and poked her head in before opening the door all the way when Six told her to come in. Maverick followed and sat next to her, waiting for Six to finish typing whatever she was typingg on her computer. She shut the screen and pulled a folder from her desk. She dropped it in front of them.

"What took you two so long?"

"Erik wouldn't get out of bed." Mira said.

Six turned to Maverick. "Is that true."

Maverick glanced and Mira who glared at him, daring him to tell Six what happened between her and Ash. "Yes." He finally said "I went to bed late last night."

Six stared at him. He could tell she was judging him. "This better be the last time that happens. When I tell you to wake up, you wake up. Understand?"

Maverick silently nodded. Six turned back to thhe folder on her desk and began to explain their operation.

"A few weeks ago, someone managed to hack into the pentagon. The Department of Defense managed to shut them out before any intelligence was lost but the fact that someone was able to break through their firewalls, even for just a second got them worried. They called for us personally because they wanted this discreet. They don't have much on the hacker but they do know that she was former G.E.O. That's what you're for Alvarez."

"Wait, I'm going on this op just because the person we're hunting used to be in the same CTU?" Mira asked "Take Ryad, he was G.E.O too."

"He's still in the medbay, recovering from the last time you told me to take him instead of you."

Mira scrunched up her face, trying to remember what happened to Jackal. "Oh yeah."

"Its just a simple extraction Alvarez." Six said "We already know where she is, just go there, get her and bring her to the police escort waiting for you. We have to get our hands on her before the white masks do. Who knows what they'll be able to do if they have someone like her on their side."

The two of them nodded and after a few more details, Six told them to leave her office and do whatever they need to get ready for their flight, which was a few hours from now. Once they were outside her door, Mira took off without a single word to Maverick, going to god knows where. Maverick rolled his eyes and walked to his room to grab what he needed for a quick shower before they had to leave.

Maverick rounded the corner, nearly bumping into to Caveira, who was pushed up against the wall by Glaz, both of them making out so hard it looked like they were trying to suck each other's faces off through their mouths.

Maverick's dumb grin reached his ears. "So you finally went for it, huh?"

If Glaz hadn't pulled away, Caveira would have just ignored him, too occupied with Glaz's mouth to bother answering Maverick. She turned to him, cheeks flushed and pupils dilated. "Not a word Erik."

"You know there are cameras everywhere right? You couldn't have waited until you were inside the room?"

"If anyone saw us and even remotely knew me, they'd know to keep their mouth shut." Caveira said before turning to Glaz "Timur this is Erik, Erik this is-"

"I know who you are." Maverick said, shaking Glaz's hand "Taina's told me a lot about you."

Glaz looked at Caveira. "Has she?"

"If that surprises you, wait until you see her room."

From the corner of his eye, Maverick could see Caveira flip him off. He chuckled and went to unlock the door to their room when Caveira ran to his side, her voice low so Glaz couldn't hear. "You're not staying are you? I'm trying to get laid here."

Maverick shook his head. "Don't worry, I'm just getting a few things. I'll leave you two be." He said before entering the room. After grabbing his backpack and filling it with a few day's worth of clothes, he opened the drawer on his nightstand. Inside was a ring placed on top of a picture of a woman.

"Keep me safe Maria." He whispered before putting the ring on.

He left the room, seeing Caveira and Glaz continue tongue wrestling. He tapped Caveira on the shoulder before offering her the keys to the room. "All yours." He said "There's some condoms in my nightstand."

"Oh don't worry, we won't be needing them." Caveira's mischievous smile only made Maverick want to leave sooner. Caveira dragged Glaz in the room and locked the door behind them.

After a quick shower, Maverick went to the workshop where he saw Mira working on her black mirrors. They exchanged a quick greeting and talked about the operation a bit before they turned to working on their own projects in silence. Maverick saw the wall he ruined tossed to the side and he wanted to apologize but Mira beat him to it.

"Thank you for what you said to Six."

"What do you mean?"

"For lying." Mira said "I threw you under the bus and you went with it. Thank you."

"Hey, what happens in sparring, stays in sparring, remember?"

Mira gave him a smile. "I don't know what came over me when I hit Cohen."

"I'm sorry for asking what was between you two. It was a personal question."

Mira was silent for a bit. "I was wrong about you Erik. You're a good person."

Maverick smiled. "You too."

…

"We're almost there. Get ready." Jager yelled from the cockpit.

Mira and Maverick both yelled a response and got their gear together. The plane touched down and they exited, greeted by two FBI agents. After a quick thank you to Jager, he took off and Mira and Maverick followed the agents to their car. When they drove out of the airport, one of the agents started talking again.

"Miss Alvarez, Mister Thorn, I'm Agent Clarke and this is Agent Ramirez." He said "We really appreciate you being here."

"Thank you for having us." Maverick said "What do we have on the hacker?"

Beside Clarke, his colleague was flipping through her phone. When she found what she was looking for, she showed it to them. It was a picture of a hooded figure leaving what seems like an abandoned warehouse.

"We managed to trace the hacker's IP address here." Ramirez said.

"Something's not right here." Mira said "If she really is a good hacker, she wouldn't leave something like that behind."

"We know." Clarke said "This is our only lead on her. Shady or not, we have to go for it. We'll take you to the hotel room reserved for you. Be up at seven hundred hours tomorrow, we'll pick you up."

…

Maverick answered the knock on the door of their hotel room and waiting for him on the other side was Ramirez, having switched from her standard FBI suit to tactical gear.

"Ready?" she asked.

Maverick called for Mira and the three of them walked down to the lobby where Clarke was waiting for them in the car. They drove to the warehouse where several other FBI agents were on standby. Clarke pulled up next to one of them and asked him what was going on.

"We've established a perimeter around the area. If anyone comes out we'll catch them, but there hasn't been any movement yet." The agent responded.

"Are you sure we have the right place?" Mira asked.

Ramirez checked her phone. "The ping hasn't moved yet. If she's not here, her tech is, which can still be useful to us."

"Ok then. Let's move."

The four of them, as well as a few FBI agents walked up to the entrance and stood on either side of the door. One of them placed a breaching charge on the door and blew it open. They all funneled inside, covering all possible angles as they slowly walked up to the desk in the middle of the room.

"Ok, this is definitely a trap."

Just as Maverick said that, they heard a beep and a metal sheet began to descend, blocking the way they came in. They heard another beep and the computer on the desk began to smoke, burning everything on the hard drive.

"Put that fire out we need the evidence!" Clarke yelled.

While the others did that, Maverick turned his attention to the catwalk by the skylight. It was faint over the noise but he could still hear it.

Footsteps.

He took off for the back exit. If whoever was up there can get to the alley, they was no way for them to catch them since most of the agents were occupied with trying to get them out.

"Erik wait!" Mira yelled behind him but he ignored her.

He kicked the back door open just as the hooded figure made their way down the ladder. Maverick tackled them and ripped the hood off just as Mira and Ramirez reached him, just as surprised as he was. Mira took her phone out.

"Six, we have her."

"Good. Take her to the escort and we can call this a day."

"Yeah, no. We have a problem." Mira said.

"What do you mean?"

Mira looked at the teenager struggling on the ground as Maverick cuffed her.

"She's a kid."


	3. Chapter 3

"What do you mean she's a kid?"

"I mean she's a kid." Mira said "I don't think she's even legal yet."

"I'm eighteen dipshit!" the girl yelled from the back of their car.

"She's also a bitch." Maverick pitched in.

"You said she's ex-GEO Six. She's not even old enough to apply." Mira said.

"My mother was ex-GEO. I just used her name to get clearance."

Mira sighed. "What do we do now Six?" the line was silent "Six? You there?"

"Yes, just let me think." She said before going silent again. After a while she groaned "Fuck it. She's still the one who hacked the pentagon. We can't let her walk away. Just push through, we'll decide what to do once she's in custody."

"Fine. I'll call you if anything new happens." Mira said before ending the call. She turned to the others "Six said the op is still a go. Just stop by the hotel so we can get our equipment."

"Pack everything you can. The meet up is two town over." Clarke said.

"What? Why?"

"Security reasons. There has been minimal white mask activity reported from there. A plane will be waiting there for you as well, it will take you back to Hereford." Ramirez said.

They drove back to the hotel and Mira, Maverick and Ramirez went down, while Clarke parked the car somewhere people won't notice the handcuffed teenager in the back seat with duct tape on her mouth. Ramirez checked them out and Mira stayed back to help while Maverick has gone ahead to the room to start packing their belongings.

Mira saw the bill for their room and her eyes popped out of her head. Now she felt guilty for that call to room service for a midnight snack, or midnight buffet based on long list of food on the receipt. Her heart raced as she racked her brain as to how they were going to pay for this when Ramirez pulled out a card and gave it to the person behind the desk.

"If it gets declined I can write a check." Ramirez said.

As the man went to verify her card, Mira pulled Ramirez to the side. "Is Six paying for all this."

"No actually. This is coming out of my pocket."

"Really?"

Ramirez chuckled. "Of course Six is paying for this. Go, get your things we'll wait in the car."

Mira nodded and went up to their suite. She entered and called out for Maverick, who responded to her from his room, saying that he was just changing and that he'll be out soon. Mira sat in the living room, packing up all the equipment that Maverick hasn't. The door to his room was ajar and Mira caught a glimpse of him.

Maybe it was the fact that she has been pissed at him up until a few days ago, but she hasn't seen him like this yet. He wasn't bad looking. Attractive, even. Despite her better judgement, she moved closer, seeing the many scars all over his toned upper body. She saw his biceps flex as he put his shirt on. Mira couldn't help but wonder if he was going to change his pants as well.

 _Elena no._ Mira scolded herself for even thinking of that. Sure it may have been an eternity since her body felt the touch of someone other than herself but she wasn't doing this. Watching Maverick change was already over the line, she wasn't going to be thinking about him like that. They still had a job to do and she wasn't going to be distracted just because she saw her colleague getting changed.

"Elena you ready?" Maverick emerged from the room, disrupting Mira's thoughts.

"Uh, y-yeah." Mira stuttered "They're waiting for us downstairs. Come on."

The two of them made a final sweep of the room to make sure they didn't miss anything before going downstairs, leaving the keys in the front desk. They walked to the parking lot, where Clarke and Ramirez sat on the hood of the car discussing something they abruptly shut down when they saw them approaching. Neither of them decided to pry any further and instead asked why they weren't in the car.

"The bitch was annoying." Clarke said, which got him a slap to the shoulder from Ramirez, although she didn't really disagree with him.

"Well you have to get used to that since we'll all be cooped up in a car for the next few days."

Clarke groaned. "Ugh, don't remind me."

They all entered the car and drove off.

…

The first few hours were uneventful. So much so that their boredom turned into hunger so now they were parking at a rest stop for lunch. After arguing over whether they were leaving the hacker in the car or not for a while, Ramirez uncuffed her and put an ankle bracelet on her.

"This bracelet will shock you whenever you go to far from the other bracelet, which is on me." She told her "Keep that in mind if you get any ideas."

She grunted and they all walked to the nearest restaurant, which happened to be a diner. Eating breakfast for lunch wasn't the wildest thing Mira has done today so why not. They found a table and sat down. Maverick and Clarke stood up, collecting everyone's orders as well as their payment.

"What about you? What do you want?" Maverick asked the hacker. She didn't respond.

"We're giving you a free meal kid. Don't be like that."

She stayed quiet. Next to her, Mira sighed. "Just get two of whatever you're going to get Erik."

Maverick nodded and they went to the counter. Shortly after, Ramirez stood up. "I'm taking a piss." She said "The restroom's probably not far enough for it to trigger the ankle bracelet. Probably."

She left the two of them alone, and after a few tense seconds, the bracelet didn't shock the girl and her jaw unclenched.

"What's your problem kid?" Mira asked, not expecting an answer which was appropriate since she wasn't given one "Look, its just the two of us. We're trying to help you but we can't if you won't let us now will you please just talk to me, latina to latina."

She still didn't say anything. "You're rude you little shit." Mira said "At least tell me your name."

The girl stayed silent for a while before finally breaking down. "Olivia."

"So you can talk. I'm El-"

"I know who you are Alvarez." Olivia said "You think you're the only one who did their research?"

"There you go again. What is with your attitude, we just want to help you."

"Help me?" Olivia asked "You call that 'helping me'? Your friend nearly broke my fucking neck when he kicked me off that ladder."

"You locked us in a warehouse, which by the way wasn't that hard to track." Mira said, her anger rising.

"Of course it was-" Olivia cut herself off, realizing her voice was loud enough to attract the attention if the other s in the diner.

"What part if low-profile don't you understand?" Ramirez asked as she sat back down "I can't leave you alone for a second can't I?"

Maverick and Clarke arrived with two trays filled with food. After the people's attention went away from they and they started eating when Olivia continued what she was saying, to everyone now instead of just Mira.

"Of course I left that IP address. Do you think I'm that stupid? I wanted to be found."

"Why?" Clarke asked.

"Someone's been on my ass ever since my mom died. I didn't steal anything from the pentagon." Olivia said, facing the two FBI agents in front of her "I just did it to get their attention. I left something I can be traced back to so I can find out who that someone is before wiping all evidence from the hard drive and disappearing forever."

"But instead it was us who found you first." Maverick said.

"Hold on, a free meal doesn't make me trust you."

"If you don't trust us then at least trust the police escort waiting to take you from us."

"What?! You can't take me to them. They'll arrest me."

"Well its better than being alone and on the run from-" Clarke cut himself off, alerting his partner to the two suspicious men who seemed to have noticed them the same time they did. Clarke turned to Mira and Maverick "White masks, twelve o' clock. We'll see if we can make them go away, if things go to shit protect the kid no matter what."

Clarke and Ramirez got up and approached the two men, who lashed out at them once they noticed the FBI badge. One of them grabbed a glass pitcher from a nearby table and broke it over Clarke's head and grabbed him by the neck. Ramirez went to help him when she got grabbed from behind and slammed onto the counter.

"Go!" she yelled before tossing the ankle bracelet to Mira.

They didn't need to be topd twice. Mira grabbed Olivia by the arm and ran fir the back exit. Maverick flipped the table over to stop the white masks from directly chasing them. He followed them and they reached the car just as Clarke and Ramirez threw one of the men through the diner window. The white mask saw them and reached for his gun, only to be shot by Maverick before he even got it out of the holster.

"Jesus fuck!" Olivia yelped as Mira got her in the car.

Clarke and Ramirez got in after them and they drove off as the other white mask fired at them, the bullets clanging against the bulletproof glass.

"You-you killed him." Olivia stuttered in shock.

"Would you rather he kill us?" Maverick asked "Clarke, call your agency, tell them we need-"

Maverick was cut off by a van ramming them from behind. They jerked forward and Ramirez nearly lost control of the wheel. Clarke grabbed the shotgun from under the seat and yelled to Ramirez.

"Hard left now!"

Ramirez did as she was told and Clarke opened the door, blasting the driver through the windshield. The van swerved out of control, clipping the back of their car as it spun out. Ramirez groaned, trying to control the car as it fishtailed. She overcorrected and crashed the car into another one parked on the street.

"Everyone ok?" Clarke yelled.

Everyone groaned a response. Maverick kicked his door open and helped Mira and Olivia out of the car just as the other white masks from the van recovered. They spotted them and ran towards them with their guns out.

"Go!" Clarke yelled as he and Ramirez exited the wreck "We'll hold them off."

The three of them ran again, heading for a nearby strip mall. "There!" Mira pointed "We'll lose them in the crowd."

Mira dragged Oilvia while Maverick loaded his 1911 and put it in his holster. None of them looked back when they heard gunshots from where they wrecked. Leaving Clarke and Ramirez was something they didn't want to do but they didn't have a choice.

The three of them managed to blend into the crowd just as the white masks caught up to them. Mira pushed past the people as she rushed to the escalator. They got on only to find that there were more white masks waiting for them on the second floor. They turned around and got back on the escalator before they were seen.

"Erik." Mira muttered, nudging him to the other white masks that just got on the escalator. It doesn't matter if they turn back again or not.

They'd still be spotted.

Olivia raised her hood and looked the other way. "Blend in." she said.

Mira panicked as the white masks got closer and closer. She racked her brain as to how they were going to blend in, when an idea hit her. They didn't have to blend in, they just had to make sure the white masks won't be looking at them, and there was always one thing that would always make her turn away when she was a child.

Mira pulled Maverick around so that he was facing her then pulled him in for a kiss. She held onto him tight so that he couldn't pull away to ask her what the fuck she was doing. She kept an eye open to watch, and sure enough, the white masks turned to the other direction. Mira didn't let Maverick pull away until they were at the bottom of the escalator, where he pushed her off so hard she nearly fell over.

"What the fuck Elena?!"

"Blend in right? Nothing gets people to turn away more than public displays of affection." Mira said.

"You don't just-, fuck it. Let's get her out of here first." Maverick said, frustrated "Don't you ever do thag again!"

Maverick grabbed Olivia and they ran again, making it to the exit, where multiple white masks were waiting for them. They tried to turn back but one of the white masks recognized them. He raised his gun and fired it into the ceiling, and everyone got down to the ground, giving the white mask a clear shot. Maverick was quicker, shooting the white mask in the chest twice. He fell to the ground, dead and the other white masks fired at them but they were already running.

They took coverr in the nearest shop, which was a chinese restaurant. Maverick showed the owner his badge and told them to stay low and to not interfere, no matter what happens. Mira and Olivia laid down on the floor next to the other people in the restaurant, trying to hide in plain site while Maverick hid behind the front desk, waiting for his oppurtunity, which would come soon as the white masks already followed them there.

"Where are they?" a white mask demanded, pointing his gun at the owner.

The owner just blinked at him, pretending not to understand him. Or maybe he really didn't. Maverick didn't care, he saw his oppurtunity. He popped up from behind the desk, pushed the owner out of harm's way and shot at the white masks, taking out the lead one after a few shots and throwing a bowl of soup on the remaining white masks.

He ducked under the table and ran to Mira, dragging them out the back door before the white masks could recover. They reached the back alley access where their path to the mall's parking lot was blocked by a locked gate. Maverick told the others to get back and pulled his pistol out to shoot the lock off, only to find it empty.

"Fuck." He grunted as he turned to Mira "You packing any heat?"

Mira shook her head. "I left it in the car."

Maverick stowed his pistol and pulled his knife out as the footsteps of the white masks got closer. "Let's do this the old fashioned way then." He instructed Mira and Olivia to hide behind the dumpster while he stood by the doorway, ready to stab the next person to come through that way. One of the white masks went through and Maverick raised his knife, only to have his kill stolen by Clarke, shooting the man in the head through the gate. The second white mask got the same treatment a second later.

"You ok?" Clarke asked as Ramirez got to work on the lock.

Mira, Maverick and Olivia followed them out to a car in thhe parking lot. They opened it with a key they nicked from one of the dead white masks and they drove off, Mira getting on the phone with Six once they all calmed down.

"Six, its Alvarez. We ran into a couple of white masks on the way to the extraction. We're fine but the FBI agents said we should call it a day for now. Keep a low profile then just head out early tomorrow."

"Fine. There's a hotel about an hour from where you are now. Give me a second." Six said, Mira hearing her type something before she got back on the line "There. That should be enough for a two bedroom suite. There's five of you right? Just share, it's the best I can do at the moment since someone added an extra zero to the bill last time because of all the room service."

Mira laughed nervously. "Y-yeah that's good enough thank you Six."

She could see Six roll her eyes as she hung up the phone. Mira told the others what Six told her and they drove to hotel where Six booked a room for them. Sixty minutes later, they walked into the lobby and gave the name the room was booked under. They were given the keys and they took the elevator to their floor. Mira thought about how they were going to divide the rooms but Clarle and Ramirez already called dibs on one of the rooms so that problem was solved.

Mira, Maverick and Olivia entered the other bedroom, and after dropping his things to the floor, Maverick was out immediately, which Mira was thankful for since she wasn't ready for whatever Maverick was going to tell her about that stunt she pulled at the escalator earlier. Mira sat at the bed and realized how tired she was, falling asleep seconds after her head hit the pillow.

…

A full bladder woke Mira up around midnight, making her groan as she rushed to the bathroom. After relieving herself, she walked back to their room, noticing that Olivia wasn't there. Mira began to panic at the thought of her getting away, but then she remembered the bracelet around Olivia's ankle. She couldn't have gone far, but then another thought crossed Mira's mind. All their tech, as well as their personal information was just lying around, waiting to be accessed by and stolen by anyone.

Mira ran out of the room, heading straight for Clarke and Ramirez's room but stopped short of knocking when she heard muffled voices coming from the otherside of the door.

"Franklin, we can't do this they might hear us." Ramirez said, although the tone of her voice clearly disagreed with what she was saying.

"They're all asleep Isabel. Its just you and me here, and that's exactly how I like it."

"I'm serious Franklin. We're on the job we can't just…" Ramirez tried to complain but she was cut off by a moan escaping her mouth.

Mira backed away from the door, her face turning scarlet. That was twice now that she had violated the privacy of someone through a door.

"Pervert."

Mira was shocked by someone calling her out. She turned around and saw Olivia standing on the balcony, taking in the cool midnight breeze.

"What are you doing up?" Mira asked.

"Well I was definitely not eavsdropping on two people having a little fun." Olivia said "You already got that covered."

"I wasn't eavsdropping kid."

Olivia shrugged. "I won't judge. If I've been single for as long as you have I'd-, actually scratch that I still wouldn't do what you just did."

"I'm not single." Mira lied, pissed by the fact that this kid was talking about something that has been bothering her for so long.

Olivia scoffed. "Alvarez, anyone with your online purchase history is definitely single." She said "I understand why you're frustrated. That's probably why you pulled that stunt with Thorn on the elevator."

"That was so we could blend in." Mira said, feeling her fave heat up again.

"I saw the way you kissed him. That was way more than what was necessary." Olivia said "And what's worse is that he's already taken. No wonder he was so pissed at you."

"What?"

"Don't tell me you didn't notice the ring on his finger. Face it Alvarez, you're falling for a married man."

Mira told Olivia to fuck off and she went back to bed. She couldn't fall back asleep though, she'll die before she admitted it, but Olivia was right.


	4. Chapter 4

Mira groggily nibbled at her toast the next morning, barely able to keep eyes open, let alone sit up straight. On the opposite side if the table was Olivia, crunching sounds coming from her mouth as she loudly ate her cereal. After swallowing a mouthful, she pointed her spoon at Mira.

"You're not a morning person Alvarez."

Mira just glanced at her, still too sleepy to give her a response. She went back to eating her breakfast when Maverick joined them at the table, fresh out of the shower. He sat next to Mira, the scent of the hotel's lemon soap mixing with his cologne slowly made their way into Mira's nostrils.

That woke her up.

"Good morning." Maverick greeted them.

Olivia greeted him back, but for some reason, Mira couldn't get her mouth to work properly. She stared at him as she stuttered out a garbled response which Maverick just wrote off as her sleepiness getting the better of her. Olivia didn't though. She knew what made Mira tongue tied and she smirked at her, mouthing _married_ to her once Maverick's back was turned.

Clarke and Ramirez joined the table last, also fresh from the shower. Mira got another smirk from Olivia and she kicked her in the shin under the table. Olivia winced and dropped her spoon in her bowl.

"You ok?" Ramirez asked, her voice slightly raspy but Mira pretended not to notice.

"Yeah." Olivia said, finishing her bowl of cereal "I'm going to shower."

"You should probably take one after she does Alvarez, we need to leave soon." Clarke said.

Mira nodded and went back to eating when they heard Olivia yell from their room. "Ramirez, can you take the bracelet off? I don't want to electrocute myself."

"Nice try kid. Its waterproof."

Even from the table, Mira could see her sulk to their bathroom. She finished her breakfast when the others began discussing the plan for today now that Olivia wasn't there anymore. "After we check out, we take the highway. The toll gate into the next state is just a few hours away." Clarke said.

"Great. When will we ditch the car?" Maverick asked.

"We're not. That's what we're using."

"Why? The white masks will be looking for that car since none of the white masks that used it returned."

"That car's a nineties Toyota Corolla Erik. You can find one anywhere there's a road to drive on." Ramirez said "The white masks would give up looking for that specific car before they'd even get close to finding us. If the white masks are good at anything, its being inconspicuous."

"Fine then. I'll get the equipment and take it to the car." Maverick said.

Clarke got up to help him and soon they left the room. A few minutes later, Olivia walked out of their room, drying her wet hair with a towel. Mira got up to take a shower as well and the three of them went down together once she was done. Ramirez went to the front desk to check them out again, giving Mira the ankle bracelet so that she and Olivia can go ahead to the car.

"My shin still hurts so thank you for that Alvarez."

"That was your fault kid I told you to stop." Mira said.

"No you didn't." Olivia said "You just sat there making 'fuck me' eyes at Thorn."

"Shut up kid. I'm warning you."

"You know what? You should go for it, I want to see if you can convince him to cheat on his wife with someone like you."

Mira threw the ankle bracelet as far as she can and after a beep, Olivia fell to the ground as fifty thousand volts made their way through her body. "Y-you b-bitch!"

"Sorry, my hand slipped." Mira said as she waved to Clarke to throw the bracelet back.

Once the bracelet was back in range, Olivia stopped writhing on the ground but was still too weak to get up. Mira grabbed her arm and pulled her back to her feet. They walked to the car, where Clarke asked what that was about.

"My hand slipped."

"You know we're supposed to bring her back alive, right Alvarez?" Clarke asked.

"Alive and unharmed are two different things Clarke."

From behind the car, Maverick slammed the trunk shut and walked over to them. "God Elena you're starting to sound like Shuhrat. Keep that up and Siu will hate you as well."

Mira shrugged and shoved Olivia in the car before getting in herself. They drove to the front of the hotel where they picked Ramirez up and they hit the highway. The first couple of hours were uneventful, one of them driving as far as they can before pulling over to switch with whoever wanted to drive.

When it was Mira's turn to drive, they drove for about half an hour before they finally reached the toll gate. The guards kept looking at then as they slowly moved through the line and when they finally reached the gate, they were stopped and asked to pull over.

A guard tapped on the driver's side window and Mira rolled it down. "Something wrong?"

The guard examined Mira then the others. "Can I see your citizen card please?"

"I'm an american citizen!" Mira said, slightly offeneded.

"Sorry ma'am, standard operating procedure."

Mira grumbled as she took out her wallet and showed the guard her ID. Ramirez, Clarke and Maverick showed him theirs as well.

"What about her?" the guard asked, pointing to Olivia who was trying to hide behind Ramirez "Ma'am, can I see your ID please?"

Olivia just stared at him, not saying anything. The guard realized she wasn't showing him her ID, he put his hand on his gun "Get out of the car slowly please."

More guards showed up as they did what they were told. Some of them made sure they didn't run while the other guards searched their car.

"I can't believe you didn't tell us you were an american citizen." Clarke said to Olivia.

"I didn't think it was important."

"We're driving through two states here didn't you think that information would be somewhat relevant?" Ramirez asked "How did you get here anyway?"

"When my mother died, her killers went after us. My father knew it wasn't safe for me if we stayed in Spain so he took me to America through a back door in the desert. On the way, we ran into law enforecement and-"

"We found something!" one of the guards yelled to the others. He dropped their guns and Maverick's blow torch on the ground for everyone to see "Hands behind you head and get on your knees. You're under arrest."

They were cuffed and thrown into the back of the guard's SUV and were driven to the precinct while their car was being towed behind them, about to be used as evidence.

"What are we going to do Franklin?" Ramirez asked.

"Don't worry Isabel, we'll just show them we're FBI, have our boss talk to them and clear everything up and we're back on the road. It will take ten minutes, tops."

"This was not ten minutes Clarke!" Maverick yelled in frustration as he lied down on the hood of their car as the sun moved to the west, signaling the nighttime that would soon be upon them in a few hours. He and Mira were fortunate enough to be let go once Clarke and Ramirez's superior told the guards at the precinct about what they were doing there but the others were held back for some further questioning.

"We should be halfway Delaware by now if we want to meet that pickup schedule." Mira said "That police escort better be waiting there for us."

"Of course they will be, what choice do they have? This hacker is worth way more than the resources they're using to get her."

Maverick leaned against the windshield as he gazed into the distance. Mira could see the orange glow of the afternoon sun painted on Maverick's face and didn't realize she was staring at him until he asked.

"What? What's wrong?" Maverick asked with a slightly nervous smile.

"Uh, its nothing, don't worry."

Mira groaned under her breath. If she could slap herself, she would. She already hated herself for having a stupid crush on Maverick, but now that she knew he's already spoke for, it only made her want him even more and it pissed her off. She needed to vent so she reached for her breast pocket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes.

"They gave you your blow torch back right? Do you mind?" Mira asked.

"You smoke? You know those will kill you right?"

Mira rolled her eyes. "Yes Erik, I know. I've heard that from my parents, I've heard that from Meghan and Julien, I won't be hearing it from you now will you please just…" Mira asked, gesturing at her cigarette.

Maverick sighed, grabbed his torch from the front seat and lit a small flame that Mira used to light her cigarette. Afterwards, he turned it off and put it back in the car and watched Mira as she inhaled deeply before puffing out a cloud of smoke.

"I've been smoking since I was in college Erik. Now I'm forty. If anything was going to happen to me it already did so will you please stop looking at me like that?"

"I'm not saying anything." Maverick said, raising his hands in defense, Mira catching a glimpse of his ring when he did. Despite her entire being telling her not to, she asked anyway.

"You're married?" she asked, trying to make it sound as casual as possible.

"I was." Maverick said flatly.

"Do you, uh, want to talk about it?"

"Not really."

Mira sat up so that she could face Maverick. "Well you shouldn't let whatever happened between you two get you down. If she can't see your worth then she doesn't deserve to have you."

"We're not separated Elena, she's dead."

 _Fuck._ "I'm so sorry I didn't know."

"Its fine." Maverick said. He stayed silent for a while before speaking again "We had a big fight before I left for that operation and she told me not to come home. She died in a car crash while I was locked away. She'd been dead for five years before I found out. I don't even remember what we fought about, I just-, I just want to see her again. I'm sorry Maria. I'm so fucking sorry." Maverick yelled at the sky.

Tears rolled down Maverick's cheeks making Mira feel like a piece of shit even more. Maverick clearly didn't want to talk about it and yet she forced him to reopen an old wound.

"Erik I am so sorry."

"No." Maverick said, wiping his eyes "I've avoided anyone who wanted to talk about it for so long. It felt good to finally talk about it."

"I still feel like a piece of shit."

Maverick gave her a light chuckle. "Don't be. I know we got off on the wrong foot but, you're a good friend Elena."

Mira knew Maverick meant for that to make her feel better but it only made her want to put her shotgun in her mouth and pull the trigger. She tried to smile at him in a way that didn't look forced.

"Thanks."

The two of them went back to sitting in silence and after a while, Clarke, Ramirez and Olivia finally emerged from the precinct.

"The hell took you so long? I thought your boss cleared everything up."

"She did." Ramirez said "Its just that the kid's criminal record is so long they suspected we had gone rouge and were working with a criminal so our boss had to clear that up as well."

"Well just get in the car." Maverick said "We have to make up for a lot of lost time."

They all filed in the car and after a few dirty looks from the guards who didn't approve them being released just like that, they were back on the highway. Olivia, who sat next to Mira, didn't take long for her to go back to her usual self.

"You seem happy Alvarez, and I know its not because you weren't arrested. What happened?"

Mira knew she shouldn't probably share it with Olivia, but her endless teasing made her do it anyway. She checked to see if Maverick was still asleep in the front seat before whispering to Olivia. "Erik's not married. At least not anymore."

"And the fact that he's no longer together with someone he loves makes you happy? Wow Alvarez, you're worse than me."

Mira blinked. Now that Olivia mentioned it, it really did make her look like a horrible person, but she'd never admit it.

"Shut up kid." Mira said before leaning her head against the window to try and fall asleep.

…

"Hey, Elena wake up." Maverick said, gently shaking her awake "We're eating dinner first then we're heading to a motel for the night."

Mira rubbed her eyes to get her fully awake and saw that it was already dark out. "What time is it?"

"Half past nine. We're already near Florida." Maverick said "Come on. Dinner's on Six."

The two of them walked to the restaurant, where the otjers were already in their seats waiting for them. Mira examined the establishment. It wasn't too fancy but it was more than she had expected, thinking that Six would try to lower their budget after all the bills they had managed to rack up in just two days.

They sat down and ordered their respective meals, Olivia choosing to order her own food instead of letting Maverick choose for her. A quick look through the menu, Mira realized she understood nothing and just ordered whatever was cheapest since their room service bill on both their hotels were mostly from her.

Midway through their meal, a couple arrived and sat at the table nearest to them and kept glancing at them a little too much for it to be coincidental. Clarke noticed and pointed it out to the others.

"We're being watched. Table behind us. Finish your meals and get the bill, we have to leave before they get impatient."

"Are you sure? Maybe you're just paranoid."

"This restaurant is full Thorn. All these people and they choose to watch us. I'm telling you, we have to get out of here."

They all ate faster, just as they were about to finish, the man stood up and left. Mira called for the bill and a waiter took their card. Ten minutes went by. Then twenty and their card hasn't returned yet. A quick glance told them the woman was still watching them, now reposrting something to god knows who on her phone.

"What the hell are we waiting for let's just leave." Olivia said.

"No." Ramirez said "I gave them my credit card. If they get a hold of it them get access to my personal information."

"Your personal information won't be any use to you if you're dead."

"That's enough." Maverick said "You're attracting attention. I'll go check on them."

"I'm coming with you." Mira said, getting up to follow him.

The two of them walked to the window by the kitchen, ringing the bell twice. When no one came to answer them, Maverick slowly approached the kitchen door. Maverick slowly pushed it open only to find it empty, utencils and shattered plates all over the floor. Whatever happened in there, it didn't heppen without a fight.

He walked in, noticing the tied up and gagged kitchen staff too little too late. He barely managed to dodge the meat cleaver flying towards him. As he recovered, the man from earlier vaulted over thhe counter and kicked him back to the ground. The man pulled out another knife and brought it down onto his face, nearly killing him had Mira not intervened.

The man elbowed Mira and swiped the knife at her, the blade cutting through her shirt, revealing the kevlar underneath. Maverick didn't miss a beat as he got up, strangling the man from behind before slamming his head onto the counter. Behind them, the door to the kitchen burst open, the woman the man was with emerging from it. She hit Mira behind the head and pressed her against the wall.

Maverick went to help her when the man got back up and put him in a headblock, choking him while making him watch Mira struggle with the woman as she tried to slice her throat open. Maverick watched helplessly as the blade got closer and closer to Mira's neck.

Mira's face scrunched up as she slowly lost the battle with the stronger woman and Maverick lost it, elbowing the man in hus side before kicking him between the legs. The man groaned and lost his grip on Maverick's neck. Maverick quickly spun around, grabbed the man by the neck and pressed it flat against the grill. The man yelled in agony as his skin sizzled and Maverick grabbed the sidearm from his holster.

"Elena!" he yelled as he pointed it at Mira's attacker and fired.

The woman fell to the ground, dead and Maverick finally let go of the man. He fell to the ground, clutchin his singed face. Maverick grabbed Mira and ran out of the kitchen. When they got out, they saw their table deserted, showing signs of struggle similar to the ones they found on the kitchen. A honk from the parking lot grabbed their attention and they saw Ramirez waving her hand at them while Clarke and Olivia got in the car.

Maverick and Mira ran to the car and they all drove off, only allowing themselves to relax once they had placed a huge distance between them and the restaurant.

…

Two hours later, they pulled up to the motel Six had paid for them. One quick look at it and Mira realized why Six was generous with their dinner. She put the budget cuts on where they were going to sleep tonight. Clarke and Ramirez shared a room again, which didn't surprise Mira. She sighed as they opened the door to their room.

Maverick assigned himself to the couch, leaving her and Olivia to choose between the two beds. Olivia called dibs on the cleanest of the two which left Mira with the bed covered in stains that she prayed to god weren't what she thought they were.

She ran a hand through them, realized they weren't as dry as she thought they were then wished she cout just cut her hand off. She ran to the bathroom, too disgusted to remember that Maverick was still in there.

"Jesus Elena get out!"

Mira ran out, her face redder than a tomato. Maverick was mostly dressed, lacking only a shirt but it still embarrassed both of them. From the bed, Olivia could barely contain her laughter.

"Smooth move Alvarez."

"Will you shut up for one goddammed-"

Mira was cut off by Maverick leaving the bathroom, walking out the room pretending like nothing happened. "I'm just, uh, getting something from the car."

Maverick left the two of them alone. "You should go for it Alvarez."

Mira looked ready to kill Olivia, which made her raise her hands in defense. "I'm serious Alvarez. You saved my life multiple times now, the least I could do is be honest with you. You should go for it."

"I can't. He clearly still loves his wife. We even have the same name for fuck's sake. Its wrong."

Olivia scoffed. "Wrong? You have a colleague who's fucking her sister and you think this is wrong?"

Mira shot her a questioning look to which Olivia quickly explained. "I hacked into the pentagon Alvarez you think I can't hack into your agency's security cameras?" she asked "And don't give any bullshit about him being too young either. Your friend Nizan isn't even thirty yet and he's sleeping with someone your age."

Mira shot her another look. "Ok fine, too much." Olivia said "But I'm serious Alvarez. He needs to find love again and you clearly haven't had sex in, wait have you ever had sex before?"

"I'm not a virgin!"

Olivia raised her hands again. "Sorry. He's coming back soon, you should keep what I said in mind."

Olivia turned to sleep and Mira sat at the edge of the bed, nearly sitting on one of the stains. Maverick returned to the room and asked why she hasn't gone to bed yet. As a response, she pointed to the stains on the bed.

Maverick looked at them in disgust. "Jesus, some guys need to learn to clean up after themselves."

"You talk like you don't play with yourself every now and again." Mira said before realizing she wasn't talking to her friends back home, where their masturbation habits were as natural a topic of conversation as the weather. Thankfully, Maverick shared the same dirty sense of humor they had.

"I'm not an animal Elena." He said, feigning offense "I do it in the shower."

Mira laughed. "If my more sophisticated colleagues hear what we're talking about, they'd chastise me for having a sense of humor that isn't 'ladylike'." Mira said, exaggerating her tone "I just kept on telling them 'Hey, you try growing up in a house filled with single horny teenage boys without ending up like me.' That always seemed to shut them up."

Maverick chuckled. "You want to sleep on the couch?"

"You sure? What about you?"

Maverick shrugged. "I've slept the whole trip. I won't be able to fall asleep anyway."

Mira thanked him and moved to the couch, watching as Maverick went to remove his stuff. She saw him wince and even though he tried to hide it, she noticed anyway, and asked him about it.

"Its nothing, I just burnt my hand while I was burning that man's face."

"Let me see it."

Maverick took his glove off and showed Mira the burnt patch of skin on his hand. "Yikes." Mira said "I have a first aid kit, let me help."

Maverick wanted to object, but Mira made it clear she was going to patch him up, so she was going to patch him up. She grabbed some badages as well as some disinfectant. She applied the disinfectant before proceeding to wrap the bandage on his hand.

"For someone who works with fire, you have a lot less burns than I thought you'd have."

"Give me some credit Elena, I'm not Jordan."

Mira chuckled. "He'd kick you in the balls if he ever heard you say that."

Maverick chuckled back and Mira continued to tend to him in silence. She finished the bandages and tied it up. She set the first aid kit aside and took his hand in hers to admire her work.

"There, all done." Mira said, looking Maverick in the eyes for a second too long.

She didn't look away however, and neither did Maverick. They just stared into each other's eyes until Mira found herself leaning towards him. Maverick just stared at her and before long, their lips connected.

Mira broke the kiss when she realized Maverick wasn't kissing back. He just stared at her, his eyes unsure of what to feel. Mira eyes began to water.

"I'm sorry." Mira apologized, getting up and grabbing her jacket as she made her way to the door "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done this."

Maverick could only watch her as she went for the door, unsure of what to say. He reached for her hand, grabbing it just as Mira was halfway out the door.

"Elena, Elena wait." Maverick pleaded, although he wasn't really sure what he would do if she chose to stay.

Mira didn't want to leave. She wanted to just come back inside and pretend she didn't do what she just did. She wanted to just take back the kiss, but she couldn't and now she can't look Maverick in the eyes. She let go of his hand.

"I'm sorry." She whispered as she ran out of their room and into the night.


	5. Chapter 5

Maverick woke up the next morning, the feeling of Mira's lips still left remnants on his. He took his phone from the nightstand, stopping the alarm on it a few seconds before it was supposed to go off. He groaned, why set an alarm if he was used to waking up so early anyway.

He walked to Olivia and gently shook her awake, getting more persistent when she just groaned something at him before rolling over to the other side of the bed.

"Come on kid, we have to get up early." Maverick said, only getting more groans as a response "I'm doing this for your own good now will you please just work with me here Elena?"

Olivia shot upwards. "What did you just call me?" she asked, woken up by Maverick's slip of Mira's name.

"Olivia." Maverick quickly corrected himself "I meant Olivia."

"I heard you." Olivia said sitting up "How did it go?"

"Please, just don't ask."

"Ouch. What happened?"

Maverick put his face in his hands. "I just-, fuck, I didn't, she just-she just kissed me."

"What did you do?"

Maverick kept his face in his hands, not saying anything so Olivia repeated her question. "Thorn, tell me you did something, anything."

"I didn't know what to do, I couldn't react. I-I just stared at her."

Olivia got up and shook Maverick by the shoulders. "No wonder she ran off. She thinks you don't feel the same way. She already feels like a fucking idiot for falling for someone that's already spoken for and now this happens. Why didn't you say anything?"

"I don't know. Its complicated."

"Bullshit!" Olivia yelled "Hacking is complicated. This isn't. Its just yes or no, so do you like her or not?"

Maverick didn't want to answer her, mostly because he himself doesn't know. Thankfully he was spared the trouble when Clarke opened their door, telling them to get ready since they were about to leave soon.

"Where's Alvarez?" Olivia asked.

"Isabel found her passed out drunk in the car. Either of you know what happened?"

"No." Olivia answered for both of them.

Clarke didn't look convinced. "Well, Isabel's trying to sober her up as best as she can. Get ready, we'll just stop for breakfast on the way."

Clarke left the room, leaving Olivia amd Maverick who still kept his face in his hands. Olivia snapped her fingers at him. "Hey, you heard him. Come on."

"You go first." Maverick said, motioning to the bathroom "I need to figure out what I'm going to do."

Olivia shook her head as she grabbed a change of clothes before walking to the bathroom. If she was having a hard time with Maverick, who knows what Ramirez was going through.

…

"Let go of me." Mira hiccuped as Ramirez dragged her to the shower.

"We don't have time for this Alvarez." Ramirez grunted "Please help me out here we need to leave soon."

Ramirez managed to lift Mira into the bathtub. She went to turn the shower on but Mira drunkenly grabbed her hand.

"I-I don't want to shower. Its too cold."

"What's gotten into you Alvarez? You were fine yesterday."

Mira crossed herr arms and pouted. "I don't want to talk about it."

"You're acting like a child Alvarez!" Ramirez yelled, frustrated "Take your clothes off and take a shower or I swear to god I'll do it myself."

Mira flipped her off and Ramirez lost it. "For fuck's sake!" she yelled as she began to remove Mira's shirt. Mira disagreed with her but she didn't fight back.

"Go ahead. I might as well let you do it since Erik doesn't want to do it."

Ramirez stopped. "What did you just say?"

"You heard me." Mira said "I made a move on him last night and he just stared at me like I was a complete stranger. I fucked up and now this whole trip will be awkward for everyone."

Ramirez sighed and sat on the toilet next to the tub. "He doesn't like you back?"

"You didn't see the way he looked at me Ramirez. He was afraid. Afraid to tell me he didn't feel the same way." Mira began to sob.

Ramirez put a hand on Mira's shoulder. "Hey there, don't let that get you down. Give it some time and who knows? Back then I didn't even breathe in Franklin's direction, but now I can't even look at him without imagining my hands around his-, uh, you get the point. Just wait, when the time comes it will be everything you've wanted and more."

"How old are you?"

Ramirez was taken aback by the question. "Thirty-one."

"How old is Clarke?" Mira asked.

"Twenty-nine."

Mira scoffed. "No offense Ramirez, but if the two of you fuck up and end up splitting, you have the rest of your adult lives to look for someone else. I'm already forty. If someone was meant for me, I've missed whoever it was."

"Its never too late to find someone Alvarez. If you and Thorn don't get together, I promise you someone else will come along but I doubt Thorn will pass someone like you up."

"You flater me Ramirez." Mira said flatly.

"Are you good now?" Ramirez asked "Because we really do need to leave soon."

Mira chuckled. "Yeah, just give me a few minutes."

Ramirez stood up and walked out the bathroom. "There's some aspirin in my bag." She said "And Alavrez, uh sorry about, you know, pulling your shirt off."

Mira realized she was just in her bra, blushed as she covered herself with her arms and turned away. "Its fine. Some privacy please?"

Ramirez nodded and closed the door behind her.

…

Mira dried herself up, got dressed and after taking some aspirin, went to join the others. Once they all saw her, they entered the car and Mira followed, opting to sit as far from Maverick as possible. Clarke drove first, reaching the next toll gate in just a few hours. Thankfully they had gone through without much hassle and now they were in Florida. Just a few more hours and they get to go back home where Mira can avoid Maverick completely and forget everything that happened.

"Are we there yet?" Olivia asked, making Clarke cuss out of frustration.

Ramirez smirked at him. "I told you Franklin. I told you she'd say it." She said "You know what that means."

Clarke groaned. "You know the handcuffs chafe my wrists."

"You should have thought of that before agreed." Ramirez said before turning to Olivia "We'll be at the pick up by nightfall. For now, we're getting breakfast."

Clarke drove for half an hour more before they pulled up at a rest stop, looking over at their options before finally choosing a restaurant that served pancakes after Olivia and Ramirez kept bugging Clarke to stop and eat there. He groaned and gave in, parking near it before they all exited the car.

"Ramirez do you think you can remove the ankle bracelet already?"

"Sorry kid, standard operating procedure."

"Come on." Olivia said "It chaffes my ankle."

From behind them, Clarke commented. "You should listen to her Isabel. Chaffing really does hurt."

"Shut up Franklin, I wear them more often than you do."

Ramirez sighed and knelt in front of Olivia with a key in her hand. "Promise me you won't run."

"I promise."

With a sigh, Ramirez unlocked Olivia's bracelet as well as hers and put them both in the car. When she caught up to the others, they were already seated. Clarke got up and they both went to go order leaving just Olivia, Mira and Maverick.

"So this is awkward." Olivia said "I'm too lazy to think of an excuse so, good luck then."

She left and Mira was just about to follow her when Maverick spoke up. "Elena, about last night-"

"Erik, please don't."

"No, we're doing this and we're doing this now or this whole trip will be awkward." Maverick said "I was caught off-guard and I didn't know how to react, alright? What you did, it was uncalled for but it wasn't unwelcome. I like you Elena, but I'm not yet sure where I want this to go. Let's just focus on the operation for now and just see where this goes once we get back."

"I understand." Mira nodded, and although her tone didn't show it, she was glad Maverick had taken the first step because if he hadn't, there was no way they'd be able to sort this out.

The others got back with plates of food and noticed that the air arpund the two of them wasn't as tense as when they had left. "I assume you two talked it out?"

Mira and Maverick nodded.

They all ate in silence and once they were finished they were back on the road. As they got closer, and Maverick switched with Clarke to drive, Olivia began to get worried.

"Are you sure you trust these guys?"

"It's a police escort kid." Ramirez reassured her "They'll keep you safe until you're brought to a safehouse which is guarded twenty-four hours a day. You couldn't be in safer hands."

"Easy for you to say, you get to go home once this is all over. What about me?"

Mira put a hand on Olivia's shoulder. "You'll be fine kid, I know you'll be. You were getting along fine before we showed up."

"I wasn't fine Alvarez." Olivia said "My father died shortly after we got here and I was on the streets. I couldn't go to the government and ask them for me to be put in any foster home since I'm not an american citizen. I learned how to hack when I began to steal from people's bank accounts. It wasn't a lot, not enough for those rich schmucks to notice but it was enough to get me a meal. It got me the attention of my mother's killers so I had to stop and try to live using the handfull of money I had left. I had just turned legal this year, if you hadn't found me when you did, I would have needed to sell my…"

Olivia blinked away a tear as she imagined what would happen if she had gone through with that. She felt Mira's arms wrap around her and more tears went down her cheeks, not having felt the touch of a mother figure for so long. Mira didn't say anything, she just held her close, allowing her to let all the emotions she had bottled up for so long out.

"You'll be fine Olivia. You won't have to worry anymore, you're in good hands."

…

A few hours passed and it was Mira's turn to drive. Maverick sat in the passenger seat while the others slept at the back. Mira was once again thankful that Maverick forced her to talk about the events that happened the other night because it allowed the to sit there in comfortable silence. The GPS said they had ninety minutes before they reached their destination.

"What do you think will happen to her once this is all over?" Maverick asked.

"You know the answer to that Erik."

"So she gets put into protective custody, what then?" Maverick asked "Her mother's killers will never stop looking for her. Admit it or not, this is just a temporary fix for her, maybe buying her a few years but if they really are as bad as she describes them, they will never stop."

"So what are you saying?"

Maverick sighed. "I just, I want to make sure she's safe. I don't want to have gone through all this trouble just to have her die with people she thinks she's safe with."

"You care about her now. I get it, I do too, but we were assigned to bring her to that police escort. We can't get involved with what happens after that. Its just like any other operation we go on."

"Let's just hope she really will be safe in that protective custody."

Mira drove in silence after that. Olivia wasn't the best person, not by a long shot, but she still felt the need to protect her. She knew Olivia felt safe with them and she needed to make sure that what she would be.

Not long after, they reached the pick up and Mira woke the other up. The street was dark, only illuminated by the fog lights of one of the armored trucks.

"I'm nervous Alvarez." Olivia said as they got out of the car.

"Don't be. You're in good hands."

Olivia gave her a weak smile as they walked over to the convoy where they were greeted by an FBI agent.

"Franklin, Isabel!" he yelled "Thank god you're safe. We heard about the attacks of the white masks, are you ok?"

"We're fine Michael. We all are." Clarke said "We have that hacker as promised now please take her into custody before anything else happens."

Michael asked one of the agents to take Olivia to the truck before facing Mira and Maverick. "I can't thank you two enough for what you have done for us. The plane behind us will take you back to Hereford."

Maverick thanked the agent and walked to the plane, Clarke and Ramirez helping him bring their stuff there but Mira was too focused on the pilot of the plane.

"Where's Marius?"

"What?"

"Marius Streicher." Mira said "He's usually the one who flies us."

"He couldn't make it." One of the agents from the back said.

Mira looked at the agent suspiciously. "Why? Is his wife sick?"

"Yeah."

"Olivia wait." Mira said as she eyed the agent more carefully. The man tried to hide it with his face mask, but there were still some of it showing.

Burn marks.

The man stared back at her, knowing he had been made. He reached for his rifle and Mira reached for Olivia, throwing her to ground and shielded her with her body just as the man opened fire on the other agents. Mira scrambled for her shotgun, grabbing its handle and pointing it at the man just as he closed the distance between them. He kicked it from her hands and raised his rifle at them.

Before he could pull the trigger though, his head burst open, covering them both in blood. Mira got up and saw Maverick by the plane, dmr in hand. He ran over to them to check if they were hurt while Ramirez and Clarke ran to the bodies of their colleagues.

"Holy shit, Michael!" Clarke yelled as he ran to his friend's side, reaching him just in time to see him bleed out.

Ramirez tried to comfort him but she was just as devastated. Olivia caught up to Mira. "How did you know something was wrong?"

"Marius doesn't have a wife, he's gay." Mira said as she made her way to the tied up pilot. She smacked him across the face with her shotgun "Where's Marius?"

The would be pilot laughed. "Untie me so I can bend over and show you."

Mira loaded a shell and fired it at the man's ankle. As he yelled in agony, Mira loaded another and pointed it between the man's legs. "Don't make me ask twice."

"Ok! Ok! Jesus Christ!" the man yelled "We just sent a message to your boss. We said the FBI will fly you back so he never left Hereford."

Mira stood up and looked at the others before looking back at the man. She smacked him again, hard enough to knock him out. She walked back to the others.

"What happened? What the fuck happened?" Clarke asked.

"Your people had a mole." Mira said.

"What now? What's going to happen to me?" Olivia asked.

"I have over two hundred hours on the flight simulations." Ramirez said "I should be able to fly us back to the FBI headquarters, take the kid there."

"I'm not too comfortable with 'should'." Mira said ""Besides, the FBI's compromised if you have a mole. Fly us to Hereford, Six will be able to sort all this out once we get back."

"She's right." Clarke said.

"We can give you the coordinates if you don't know where it is." Maverick said.

Ramirez nodded and they turned back to the plane just in time to see the pilot untie himself and fire a flare off into the sky. They watched helplessly as it lit the dark night sky a deep crimson, signaling the countless white masks lurking in the shadows to open fire.

"Get to the plane!" Maverick yelled and they ran, getting closer to the plane when a rocket flew threw the air, blowing the plane up and throwing them backwards with the explosion. The white masks opened fire barely giving them enough time to find cover. They fired back, hoping to hit any white masks that advanced toward them. A few white masks made their way to where Maverick and Ramirez were hiding just as they had shot off the last of their ammunition.

Maverick pulled his knife out. "Time to do this the old fashioned way."

Just before he got the chance to use it, one of the armored trucks ran the white masks over. The door opened, showing Clarke at the wheel. He yelled at them to get in as Mira got on the turret and gunned down the nearest group of white masks. Maverick and Ramirez scrambled to get in and the drove off, the bullets bouncing off the armor panels of their vehicle.

"Is everyone ok?" Clarke asked.

"I think so." Olivia said.

They got a few minutes of silence before they got rammed from behind. A quick look at the rear view mirror told them the white masks got a hold of one of the armored trucks and the had chased after them. Maverick grabbed the smg on the door and fired at them out the window while Mira got on the turret. Their bullets cracked the windshield but none of them made it through. The white masks continued ramming them.

"Aim for the tires!"

"These trucks have run flats, the tires won't deflate."

"You're using a fifty cal Elena, those run flats won't be useful if the tire is gone." Maverick said.

Mira did as she was told and fired at the front wheel of the truck behind them, blowing them off after continuous fire. The truck skidded to the side and rolled over, blocking the path for the other trucks behind it. One of the white masks got out of the trucks, RPG at the ready. He fired it at them, hitting the back. The armor panels absorbed most of the blast but the explosion still shook the truck.

Clarke lost control and their truck rolled over as well. Maverick and Ramirez crawled through the door and helped pull the others out. They grabbed their stuff and ran just as the white masks managed to move the rolled over truck that was blocking their path.

"Fuck. Where do we go now?" Olivia asked.

"We passed a police station on the way here." Ramirez said "If we get there we can get there we can use the guns from their armory. Make a last stand."

"Well we better get there fast, they're only a few minutes behind."

They reached the police station and Maverick cut through the lock of the door with his blow torch. He and Clarke barricaded the door once they got in while Mira and Ramirez opened up the armory, handing them automatic rifles and shotguns once they were done. Mira brought Olivia to the back room and stayed with her while the other ran off to other strategic locations.

"Remember," Mira said through the comms "no matter what happens, keep the kid safe."

"I'm scared Alvarez." Olivia said.

"Don't worry. The only way they'll get to you is through my dead body."

They killed all the lights just as the armored truck pulled up to the front of the station. The bell on the door chimed as the white masks entered. Mira heard one of them flick the switch a few times before giving up.

"They cut the power. Turn your lights on."

Several beams of light came to life, and what were just flashlights to the white masks were beacons to Maverick and the others. One of them got too close and Maverick took him out. The other white masks turned to his direction and another white mask fell.

"Oh fuck this!" a white mask yelled and ran out.

At first, Mira thought they scared him away but then she saw him maneuver the truck so that it was facing the police station then turned the fog lights on, bringing light into the room and taking their only advantage over the white masks away.

"There!" one of the white masks yelled as the fired at where Clarke was hiding, forcing him to run as they tore his cover apart. He caught a bullet in the leg and fell down, still managing to gun down the white masks running towards him, running out of bullets once there were only a few left.

Ramirez peeked from across the room and killed two of them before catching a bullet herself. She fell behind her cover with a grunt and the last white mask went to finish both off them when Maverick popped up from behind the front desk, shotgun in hand and blew him across the room. He went to help the others up when more white masks showed up, raining bullets onto all of them.

From her end, everyone else on Mira's comms were silent, replaced by either gunfire or static. "Erik? Erik come in!"

No answer.

"Clarke, Ramirez, anyone?!"

Just more static.

"Fuck." Mira said as she pulled her sidearm out and gave it to Olivia "Do you know how to use this?"

Olivia reluctantly took it. "Hopefully."

Mira grabbed the rifle leaning by the wall. "Kill those who gets past me."

She kept it pointed at the doorway, ready to fire at a moment's notice. She easily gunned down two white masks that rushed into the room and hit another who ducked to the other side of the doorframe. She took the magazine out and tossed it aside once she saw it was empty.

Mira held the rifle like a bat, ready to strike the white mask as he enters, which was sooner that she thought, barely managing to disarm him. The white mask struck Mira and trapped her in a headlock, choking her as more footsteps got closer to them.

Mira panicked, elbowed her attacker in the stomach and swung him around so that his back was facing Olivia.

"Now Olivia!" Mira yelled and after a few gunshots, she threw the white mask's corpse off and dove for his discarded shotgun on the floor and firing it just as the footsteps had reached the door. Mira dropped the shotgun, eyes lit up with horror as she watched Maverick's body fly backwards into the wall, shirt torn apart with the shotgun's pellets.

Too worried about Maverick, Mira hadn't noticed the other white masks enter the room until one of them throw her to the ground as they dragged her and Olivia to the armored truck waiting outside.


	6. Chapter 6

"Thorn? Thorn!" Ramirez's voice came out as muffled "Fuck, he's not waking up. Franklin hand me the syringe."

Maverick felt something pierce his arm and all his senses heightened, as if he had used redbull to mix his coffee powder for breakfast then snorted some coke on the way out. His eyes opened and he shot upward, hands jittering, whole body shaking as he demanded Ramirez to tell him what she did to him.

"Adrenaline." Ramirez said "Or at least that's what our agency's excuse for it is. Its good for waking up someone unconcious immediately and gives them a slight energy boost for a while."

Maverick looked at his trembling hands, heart beating so fast he felt like it would explode. "Slight?"

"You'll get used to it."

Maverick took off his ruined shirt to show the body armor he was wearing riddled with pellets. He took that off as well and put his shirt back on. "Where's Elena?"

Clarke and Ramirez didn't look at him. "Guys, I asked you a question." Maverick said "What about the kid?"

Clarke and Ramirez looked at each other, waiting for the other to say something. Ramirez sighed and answered Maverick. "After she shot you, they got taken. Both her and the kid. We wanted to help but we were too hurt so we just hid."

Now that Maverick was fully awake, he saw the extent of their injuries. Ramirez had a sling around her arm, bleeding from a bullet wound just below her shoulder and Clarke had bloodied gauze on his leg and was currently working on a splint.

"We need to call for help."

"No." Ramirez said "The FBI's compromised. Who knows how many moles are working there. We can't take that risk."

"Call Six. We hadn't reported back to her about the extraction. She has to know something's up by now."

"That's also a no." Clarke said "Even if we do call her, she has no idea where we are. If she sends a search party and the white masks find out, they might cut their losses, kill the kid and Alvarez and take off to god knows where. We can't take that risk either."

Maverick's shoulders slumped. "So that's it? We're on our own?"

Clarke and Ramirez nodded. The former, who just finished making his splint slowly stood up and limped over to Maverick.

"Now let's get going."

Maverick shook his head. ""No. No way. You two have done way too much already, you're not coming with me."

"You're not excluding us from this." Ramirez said.

"Yes I am." Maverick said "Look at you two. Clarke can barely walk and I don't think you can even hold a gun."

Ramirez took the sling off and moved her arm a bit. "There is a mole in the FBI which makes this our business now and if you do anything that can stop us from carrying out our investigation we have the right to arrest you."

"Fine, but if anything happens to you I can't be held responsible."

Clarke shrugged. "That wasn't the first time I heard that and it won't be the last."

The three of them rummaged to what they had left, picking up various guns and ammunition. Once they finished, they had manage to gather two rifles with three magazines each, a grenade launcher, a bolt action sniper rifle and enough pistol ammunition for all of them. Ramirez left a note for the police so that when they come in this morning and see their precinct destroyed at least they know why.

As they were about to leave, they heard a groan from one of the bodies on the floor. Maverick rolled it over to see an almost but not quite dead white mask, blood coming from the parts of his vest that weren't able to stop their bullets.

"Where are you taking them?" Maverick demanded.

The white mask spat blood onto his face as a response.

Maverick wiped it off before pressing his finger down on one of the white masks' bullet wounds. He yelled in agony and Maverick repeated his question. He pressed harder and the white masks garbled out that they were going to collect their equipment from where they holding out before moving to some new location. He gave some coordinates which Clarke took note of before Maverick finally let go.

He got up and they went to leave when the white mask yelled something behind them.

"What are you going to do? Walk in there and arrest everyone?"

Maverick stopped and pulled his pistol out. "Who said anything about arresting?" he asked before executing the white mask.

...

The car began to bounce as they went off road, making Olivia worry even more. "Where are they taking us Alvarez? What are they going to do to me?"

Mira sighed. "I don't know kid."

"What about the others, what happened to them? Are they-"

"I don't know, alright?!" Mira snapped before realizing she was scaring someone who's already terrified "I'm sorry kid. I just can't, I can't believe I shot Erik."

"He's fine Alvarez and you know it." Olivia said earnestly.

"Still, if I hadn't done that, we might not have gotten taken."

"Look at it this way, if you hadn't shot him, he'd be here with us, awaiting the same fucked up fate we have waiting for us."

Mira sighed. "I don't want to die with the way I left things off with Erik."

"Then let's make sure we don't die." Olivia said, expecting a response with the same vibe from Mira only to be disappointed.

"I'm not sure kid." Mira sighed "We're up against shit odds here. Chances are they'd kill me and use you for whatever twisted shit they have planned then kill you as well. Protecting you was the one job I had and I fucked that up as well."

"You did everything you could Alvarez. You couldn't have done anything to stop this so don't think that this is your fault." Olivia said "I just want to apologize for the way I behaved when we first met since you still kept me alive despite that."

Mira extended her arms and Olivia accepted, the two of them wrapped in a hug as the car got closer and closer to its destination.

...

Maverick peered through a pair of binoculars to a spot near the end of a bridge while Ramirez was tending to the wound on Clarke's leg.

"You shouldn't be going down there Franklin. You can barely walk."

"I have to." Clarke said "I won't be much help up here."

"You still have that sniper rifle don't you?" Ramirez asked and Clarke nodded "Cover us from here and keep the engine running in case we need to get out quickly."

"I don't know Isabel. Do you trust me enough to cover you two with only five rounds?"

"Only if you trust me enough not to need that cover."

Clarke scoffed. "Smart-xxxq źç."

Ramirez leaned in to kiss him and he accepted, only pulling away when Maverick yelled at them from behind. "Hey, they're almost here."

Maverick loaded the grenade launcher and waited for the convoy to get close enough. "Remember, take out the first car then the last, trap everyone on the bridge. Once we have Elena and Olivia, run for it."

Ramirez nodded, grabbing both rifles just as the convoy reached the bridge. "Come on." Maverick whispered before firing at the lead car, taking it out with a fiery explosion. He quickly reloaded and fired at the last car, blowing it up as well. Ramirez gave him one of the rifles and they ran out of their cover, firing at the white masks that got out of their cars to try and spot their attackers.

Maverick threw a flash, blinding everyone within its radius giving him and Ramirez a handful more kills. "Search the cars, look for them so we can get the fuck out of here!" he yelled and they split up, searching the multiple cars that made up the convoy.

Maverick went to the car nearest to him and opened the door only to find it empty. He cussed under his breath and moved on to the next car only to have no more luck on it than on the last one. "Ramirez," he yelled "you find them yet?"

"Come here!" Ramirez yelled back.

Maverick ran to the back of a truck, its doors chained shut. Ramirez banged against the door and Mira yelled back at them.

"You have your torch with you right?"

"I left it in the car."

"Shit." Ramirez yanked against the chain "The car is too far from here. By the time you get back reinforcements would have already arrived."

Maverick raised his rifle at the chain but Ramirez stopped him. "That chain's reinforced steel. Save the bullet, even a dmr can't get through that."

Maverick ran a hand through his hair, weighing his options. "Fuck it." He finaly said "We're taking the truck."

"Are you sure?"

"We don't have a choice." Maverick said as he got in the truck and backed up, pushing thhe wreckage of the last car.

Ramirez got on the comms. "Franklin, change of plans we took the truck, just follow us." She said before facing Maverick. "Where to now?"

Maverick manuvered the truck and sped out of the bridge. "I don't know yet, for now we need to get out of here." He said before banging against the back of the cabin "You alright back there?"

"Yes, just get out of here!" Mira yelled back.

"Hang on Elena, we'll get you-"

Maverick felt the truck lunge forward annd fishtail. Barely managing to control of the truck, he looked at the rearview mirror and saw another van coming at them from behind. He yelled at Mira and Olivia to hold on and he jerked the wheel to the left, cutting through the bushes and into the next lane. The van followed suit, speeding through the dividers and ramming them from behind again.

The truck skidded and before Maverick could react they were already rolled over sidewards. From the cracked windshield, Maverick could see the van barrelling towards them and he braced for impact, but the impact never arrived.

Before the van could reach them, the winshield shattered and the driver's head exploded into a cloud of blood. The van swerved and went in the water. Maverick kicked his door open and climbed out to see Clarke standing by their car behind them, barrel of the sniper rifle still smoking.

He limped towards them and helped Ramirez out while Maverick ran to the car to grab his torch. He lit up a small flame and tested it a few times before running back. He torched the chain, using up more propane than he thought due to the reinforcement. Eventually, it softened annd fell to the ground with a clink.

He opened the doors to see Mira and Olivia, a little shaken up but otherwise OK. He offered his hand to help them out, Olivia first then Mira. Unlike Olivia, who he handed to Clarke and Ramirez for them to check her for any injury, when Mira grabbed his hand he pulled her close and gave her a kiss.

He waited for her to be the one to pull away but she didn't so he broke the kiss. "What happened to waiting until all this was over?"

Maverick smiled at her. "No more waiting." He said "I could lose you at any moment so I'm going to enjoy all of you while I can."

Mira smiled and gave him another kiss before walking back to the others, hand in hand. "Aw, how cute." Clarke said "Now what?"

Maverick and Mira looked at the wreckage. "Motel?"

...

They all sat around a table in one of the motel rooms they had rented for the night, discussing their next move now that the whole police escort was dead.

"We could try going back. We should have enough." Mira suggested only for her idea to be dismissed by Clarke.

"Where would we go? Hereford's too far to drive and HQ is definitely out of the question."

"Who said anything about driving?" Maverick asked, an idea brewing up in his mind "Olivia, can you send a message that can't be seen by anyone except the person it was intended for?"

Olivia nodded and Maverick wrote a number, coordinates and a time on a piece of paper. "Send this to that number."

Olivia got on her laptop and got to work. "What exactly is your plan here?"

"I'm getting us back to Hereford." Maverick said "From there Six can help you if you want to make an official investigation on the FBI."

Clarke and Ramirez nodded and after discussing a few more deatils, Mira and Maverick left Clarke and Ramirez's room to go to theirs. Mira felt slightly ashamed of expecting Maverick to pick up where they left off back on the bridge, and felt disappointed when he didn't.

She went to use the bathroom and when she came back she found him on the balcony, staring at the night sky. She went to approach him, shivered in the midnight breeze and went back inside. After wrapping herself on the thankfully clean blanket she went outside, offerinng Maverick a share of the blanket. He took it and they moved closer to each other, sharing the warmth of the blanket.

Maverick sighed. "Maria loved nights like these."

Mira snuggled closer, letting him know she was there if he needed her to be. They stayed like that for a while, not saying a word to each other to enjoy the silence between them. Sure it was cold, and Mira left the sliding door open so there was probably a million insects in their room by now but there was nowhere else she'd rather be.

"Sorry about what I said a while ago by the way." Maverick said "The whole 'enjoying all of you' part. It was inappropriate."

"Its fine." Mira said, somewhat surprised "So do you want to?"

Maverick raised his eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"Enjoy all of me." Mira said, mischief in her eyes "Do you want to?"

Before Maverick could answer Mira pulled him in and kissed him, grabbing his hand and placing it on her chest. When she pulled away, Maverick pulled her back in and they kissed again, more passionately.

"I take that as a yes?"

Maverick gave her another kiss as a response. Mira didn't want to pull away, but there was no way she was going any further unless they were back inside.

"We're doing this in there." Mira said, pointing back to the room "Its cold out here. I don't want you all shriveled up down there."

Maverick lifted Mira and carried her bridal style back into the room. He put her down to shut the sliding door and when he turned back to face her, she already rushed to get his clothes off.

"Woah, someone's eager."

Mira didn't say anything and proceeded to take her clothes off while Maverick finished removing his. They continued to make out as Maverick slowly laid her onto the bed. His hand started to move downwards, fingers ready to play with Mira's nether regions when she stopped him.

"No foreplay. I want you inside me now." Mira said.

"Wow you really are desperate."

A smug grin appeared on Maverick's face, one that would disappear once Mira grabbed his balls and squeezed them in her hand.

"Ow! Fine, just hold on."

Maverick went to his discarded pants on the floor to get his wallet. He took a condom out while Mira watched, biting her lip as she saw him stroke himself a few times before putting the condom on the tip and rolling it downwards, forming a little stain on the bed between her legs.

She was slightly disappointed that he didn't choose to go in raw, but she understood why. The administrators would be pissed if she got pregnant, more so since they weren't supposed to be having sex in the first place.

Maverick walked back to her and grabbed her ankles. "I hope you're flexible."

He lifted herr legs and pressed them against her chest as he aligned himself with her entrance. He inserted himself slowly, letting both him and Mira feel as much as they can. "God you're tight. When was the last time you had sex?"

"Don't you ever ask me that Erik."

Maverick began to thrust in and out of her slowly, getting comfortable with her before speeding up. He maintained a steady pace, although he sped up every once in a while to throw Mira for a loop, who began to moan as he found that spot that drove her crazy, scratching itches she didn't even know she had.

Mira's nails dug into Maverick's back as each thrust brought her closer and closer to her peak. Maverick could tell and once he felt her walls begin to tighten around him, he pulled out and began teasing at her entrance, only putting the tip in which was enough to keep Mira aroused but not enough to send her over the edge.

"Poner todo en maldita sea!" Mira yelled in frustration.

"Elena if you want me to do something, tell me in english."

Mira had difficulty forming words, the frustration of being so close yet so far clouded her mind. "Fuck me properly!"

"If you say so." Maverick began thrusting in and out of her again, this time so hard it sent Mira over the edge in just a few thrusts, yelling his name as she rode out her orgasm. She barely had time to recover when Maverick began thrusting again, sloppier this time, no longer following the rhythm he had maintained a while ago.

Mira bit her lip, trying to stay quiet this time since she remembered that the others were just in the next room. It proved difficult though, each thrust was faster, harder than the ones before and Maverick's desperation to reach his own climax only served to heighten Mira's arousal. She felt herself getting close again, walls tightenig around Maverick again. This time he didn't pull out and thrusted into Mira her hips were bucking and her eyes rolled backwards.

Maverick pulled out, length sticking outwards, still not given the climax it so desperately wanted. Mira laid on the bed panting, brain trying to regain the ability to speak after two mindblowing orgasms. " _Dios mio_ , that was amazing."

"Thanks." Maverick said "Now do you mind returning the favor?"

Mira sat up so that she was at eye level with Maverick's length. Maverick was so close that just the feeling of Mira's hands on his aching flesh as she took the condom off nearly made him cum on the spot. He bit his lip, barely managing to stop his climax at the last second. Mira noticed.

"Lay down on the bed."

Maverick obeyed and Mira crawled over him before proceeding to straddle his face. "I want an orgasm."

"I just gave you two Elena."

Mira shrugged. "I want another one."

"Give me mine first!"

"I know how close you are Erik. I don't want to put my mouth on your dick only to have you cum a second later." Mira said "Besides, this is what you get for teasing me. Now lick or I won't give you an orgasm at all."

Maverick groaned in disagreement but lick Mira anyway, outside first before parting her lips and inserting his tongue in her slit. He found that spot that drove her crazy again, making Mira swear under her breath, shattering her composure as he played around with it and before long Mira was screaming his name again.

"There." Maverick said "Its my turn now."

Mira smirked. "I don't know. Right now I could really use a shower."

Maverick's blue balls made him let go of all his pride. "Elena please."

"Now who's desperate?" Mira said "I like it when you beg. Do it some more."

"Please Elena, I'm begging you."

"Please what, Erik?"

Maverick groaned. "You know what I mean Elena."

Mira feighned innocence even though it was clear she was anythig but. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Maverick groaned again. "You're going to have to tell me what you want Erik." Mira said, cupping his balls in her hand "Oh, and in english please."

Maverick was pissed even though he knew this was just justice for a while ago. His length throbbed, begging for release and he finally gave in.

"Please let me…" Maverick couldn't finish his sentence.

Mira played with his balls some more, making it unbearable for Maverick. "Yes Erik? What is it?"

"Please let me cum."

Mira smiled. "There you go. Was that so hard?" she said "Don't you ever tease me again, you understand?"

Maverick nodded and Mira's head slowly went lower until Maverick felt her tongue brush against his tip. He thought she was going tease him again but instead she took him whole, head bobbing up and down as she deepthroated him.

Maverick grunted and exploded in her mouth, shocking Mira. It tasted bitter and she was sure some of it stuck to her teeth but she hadn't tasted cum in so long that she swallowed it anyway.

Maverick was panting on the bed and Mira gave him a light slap on the face. "No warning Erik?"

"Sorry."

"You better be." Mira said "Now give me a kiss. You deserve to know how you taste."

Mira expected him to disobey, and she wouldn't blame him but he surprised her when he did it without hesitation, even going the extra mile and sticking his tongue in her mouth.

Maverick saw her shocked face and smirked. "Maria made me do that all the time."

Mira chuckled and got up. "Where do you think you're going?" Maverick asked.

"I'm taking a shower."

"No you're not." Maverick said, getting up after her "You came three times, I came once. You owe me two."

Mira rolled her eyes. "Come with me then." She said as she grabbed him by his length and pulled him into the bathroom with her.


	7. Chapter 7

Maverick woke up with Mira cuddled up next him and he couldn't help but smile at the sight of her. Her usually clean pixie cut was all over the place and her face looked peaceful under the sunlight coming from the window. Once again, he managed to turn his alarm off seconds before it went off, sparing Mira of its disturbance. Instead, he gave her a gentle kiss on the lips to wake her up. Mira stirred for a bit before she kissed back showing Maverick that she was now awake.

"Good morning." Maverick greeted.

"Yeah the morning's good, but last night was better."

Maverick smiled and leaned in for another kiss but Mira shied away from. "What's wrong?"

"Your breath stinks."

Maverick chuckled. "Fine. Get up, we have to leave soon."

"Why?" Mira groaned "I'd rather just stay here. With you."

"Well we can't. We have a schedule to keep." Maverick said, getting up.

Mira groaned again. "Fine."

"Good." Maverick said "Get your things ready, I'm taking a shower."

"Can I come with you?"

Maverick turned around and smiled at Mira before walking back to the bathroom. Mira got up and followed him in.

…

Mira and Maverick joined the others in their room after they had finished packing. They sat down at the table for breakfast, taking note how everyone else was silent around them. "What?"

Clarke and Ramirez didn't say anything and continued eating but Olivia was struggling not to laugh. "The walls are thin around here Alvarez." Was all she said but it was enough to get the point across to Mira.

Mira's face turned a deep shade of red. "Oh god, I'm-I'm sorry for-"

"Its fine. Just please stop talking about it." Ramirez said, trying to focus on her food.

"You guys ready?" Maverick asked.

"This plane better work Thorn. My shooting arm still hurts." Ramirez said to which Maverick just reassured her.

"Don't worry. Like I told you, this will work but only if we can make it there in time."

"Well whoever took that long shower definitely didn't help." Olivia said, which just made Mira blush again.

"Can we please just go already?"

"Let me just get our equipment." Mira said.

"Don't worry, its all in the car already." Clarke said.

"Really?"

"Like the kid told you," Clarke said "you were in the shower for a long time."

After a quick breakfast they all boarded the car and soon they were off. Thirty minutes into the trip, Ramirez began to question Maverick on what exactly his plan was, not being contented with the 'You'll see' he usually gives her.

"We're going to a secluded place alright." Maverick said "Someplace where we can safely leave this place for good. We just have to get there in time so no more stopovers."

Just as Maverick said that, Olivia reached into her bag and realized she was out of what she was looking for. She tapped Mira to see if she had any only to be disappointed when she had none. She looked to Mira for help and with a sigh, she delivered.

"Erik stop at the nearest convenience store." Mira said.

"I just said no more stopovers."

"This is different. Olivia needs some…just stop the car."

Maverick complained but otherwise did what Mira told him to. They pulled up a local 7-11 and Maverick got out the car, telling the others to wait in the car. Olivia offered to be the one who goes to buy it since she was the one who's going to use it but Maverick didn't let her since she was still wanted by the white masks and because she's 'going to take too long' according to him.

He entered the store and heard the _ding_ of the bell on top of the door. He walked to the feminine products and when he couldn't find what he was looking for, he walked to the counter, planning out what he was going to say. Despite having done it for Maria countless times, he always felt somewhat shy about asking the person at the counter for them.

He tapped on the counter, getting the attention of the clerk who was watching the portable TV. "Hey man, you have any, uh, you know, the thing women need so that they won't…" Maverick made a gesture with his hands to urge the clerk to finish his sentence for him.

"Condoms?"

"No. The, like opposite of it. If she's using this it means you won't get laid."

The clerk just stared at him, dumbstruck. "He's talking about tampons." Olivia said, entering the store after Maverick "Can you give us some please?"

"Sure." The clerk said "Why didn't you just say that?"

The clerk walked to the back and once he was out of earshot, Maverick confronted Olivia. "I thought I told you to stay in the car."

"Well I still have to put it on so I have to go down anyway."

Maverick blinked, mentally slapping himself for not realizing how stupid he was. "There's a toilet at the back. Once he gets back, do what you need to do so we can get out of here already."

The clerk came back and handed Olivia a box and she asked for the keys to the restroom. Once it was given, she went to the toilet while Maverick paid for her. He handed him the money and as the clerk was counting the change he chuckled.

"First time buying tampons for your daughter?"

"She's not…nevermind." Maverick said, not bothering to discuss his involvement with Olivia.

"Here you go." The clerk moved to give Maverick his change but stopped short just as he was about to drop it in his hand.

"What's wrong?"

The clerk didn't answer him, he was too focused on what was showing on his TV. Maverick looked at the TV as well and saw his face. And then Mira's. And then Olivia and Clarke and Ramirez. Each time their faces were flashed, there was an alert, pinning the murder of their police escort on them. They were ordered to be shot on sight.

"Listen man, I can explain."

The clerk threw the coins in his hand at Maverick and ducked under the counter. Maverick ran just as he emerged, holding a shotgun and blasted the shelf Maverick was hiding behind, sending bits of chips flying everywhere. He ran to the next shelf which the clerk shot as well. He ducked behind the freezer where the frozen foods and ice cream were kept, trying to figure out how he can get himself and Olivia out of there.

"You're fucking crazy man!" Maverick yelled, glancing at the bathroom door. If Olivia was smart, she'd stay there and lock the door once she heard gunshots.

"You think you can just walk in here? You're fucking dead!" the clerk yelled as he fired at Maverick some more.

"I'm telling you we didn't do anything!"

"Bullshit! That's what everyone says." The clerk yelled "You're not walking out of here alive. You and that kid."

"You just try to put a hand on her."

"Oh you'll see." The clerk fired at Maverick so he couldn't run out and headed to the bathroom. He kicked the door open and Olivia sprayed him with water from the bidet. He stumbled backwards and shielded he face with his hands. He raised his foot and kicked Olivia. She fell to the ground and the clerk stepped on her wrist. He raised his gun.

Maverick tackled him to the ground and sent the shotgun scattering across the floor before he had the chance to shoot it. He grabbed a soup can on the floor nearby and struck him on the head so hard blood came out. Olivia got up and out of the bathroom, staring at him.

"Is he-"

"No." Maverick said, checking the man's pulse "Severely injured but alive. Are you done?"

Olivia nodded.

"Good, let's get out of here already."

The two of them got back in the car, Mira asking why Maverick was covered in blood. "Long story short, the blood of the police escort is on our hands apparently."

"So we're wanted by law enforcement now?"

"Not just law enforcement." Olivia said, swiping through her phone "We're on every hit list on the dark web. Anyone who's broke and has a gun will be coming after us."

"Then we really should be getting out of here." Maverick said, pressing the accelerator flat against the floor.

They reached the highway when they heard sirens behind them and soon there were multiple police cars behind following them. One of them flagged them down, asking them to pull over but Maverick just sped up.

"Erik?"

"Don't worry, we're on the freeway." Maverick said "If they are actual cops, they won't try anything that would harm civillians. The most they can do is chase us."

Maverick just kept on driving, too focused on trying to increase the distance between them to notice a car cut across two lanes to get in front of them then suddenly stop. Maverick saw it too late and hit the trunk of the car. The driver got out of the car and walked over to them and Maverick got out as well, preparing to argue on how the collision was that man's fault when he opened the back door of his car and pulled out a rifle.

"Gun!" one of the policemen yelled, shooting the man before he could get a shot off then turned his attention to Maverick "Hands on your head, you're under arrest!"

Another man got out of the car and fired at the cop cars behind them and the cops fired back. In the crossfire, Maverick managed to get back in the car, back up and drive off into the highway. As they drove off, the rear window shattered, covering the others in bits of safety glass.

"What the fuck!" Mira yelled "I thought they wouldn't do anything that could harm civillians."

"Those weren't cops that were shooting at us. They're to busy protecting everyone else."

They sped down the highway, dodging most of the cars all while being shot at. They approached the toll gate and saw more law enforcement, all weilding automatic rifles form a firing squad ready to gun them down once they were far enough from any civillians.

"Erik?" Mira asked nervously.

"Yeah, I see it."

"What do we do?"

Maverick looked behind at the mix of cop cars and armed civillians behind them then at the firing squad they were approaching. He shifted gears and slammed hhis foot on the gas "Fuck it." He said, ramming the divider and driving into the the other side of the road. Barely managing to avoid head on traffic as he made his way to the exit ramp.

"Where are we going?"

"Anywhere but here." Maverick said as he sped up when he saw multiple cars following them.

They were shot some more, bullets hitting the back of their car as Maverick tried to look for somewhere to go. One of the bullets hit the back tire and he grunted as he barely managed to stop the car from rolling over. The flat slowed them down, and although the distance between them was far enough for them to keep them from worrying about it too much, they were slowly losing their lead.

"Olivia, change of plans. You still have that number?" Maverick asked.

Olivia nodded.

"We're not going to make it to the original rendezvous point. Give him our current location."

"My laptop's dead. I can't do it here."

"It's a good thing we're stopping then." Maverick said, pulling up into a construction site.

He stopped the car, got out and fired a few shots in the air and told every worker to leave. "Elena, get Olivia to somewhere she can charge her laptop and get the message through. We'll keep them of you."

Mira nodded and took Olivia to the contractor's office to find an outlet. Maverick turned back to the others and unlocked the car's trunk and took out all of their guns.

"I believe in us as much as you do Thorn but how are we going to hold off that small army with two rifles and a few handguns?" Ramirez asked.

"Looks like we're going to find out because here they come." Maverick said, running inside the unfinished building. Clarke followed but Ramirez stayed back.

"What are you waiting for Isabel? Come on."

Ramirez looked back. "Keep going, I'll catch up. I have an idea."

She ran in the opposite direction and Clarke wanted to follow when Maverick grabbed his arm. "She can take care of herself Clarke. We have to make sure those bastrds don't get anywhere near the kid."

"You better be right."

The first car that rolled in was an unmarked sedan. Probably a few people wanting to cash in the money from the hitlist that Olivia was talking about. Four people got out, guns drawn and one of them yelled to the others to search the place. More unmarked cars entered the site and the people inside searched around as well just as the cops entered the site as well, gunning down a hitman that hadn't gotten out of their line of sight fast enough.

Clarke heard the gunshots and looked at Maverick, concerned. "Don't worry," Maverick said "if we're lucky, they'll take take each other out. If not, well we'll figure it out."

A few hitmen neared the place where they were hiding and the two of them gunned them down before they were even spotted. A few policemen on the ground heard the gunshots and fired at them and Maverick went to fire back at them but Clarke stopped him.

"Don't. They're just answering a call, they don't have to die for doing their jobs."

Before Maverick could answer, they heard more gunshots from the ground and soon, the fire from the police weren't completely focused on them anymore. "What's happening?"

"More hitmen arrived." Maverick said, cocking his rifle and peeking out to shoot.

"What are you doing?"

"They don't have to die for doing their job right? Let's help them then."

Clarke peeked out and shot as well. Once there were only policemen left, they began to fire at Maverick and Clarke again. "This is the thanks we get?" Maverick yelled just as a grenade fell at their feet "Oh fuck!" they ran as fast as they can just it blew up, sending them flying through an unfinished wall.

…

Mira kicked the door to the contractor's office open and flicked the light open. She checked to see if it was clear before letting Olivia inside. "There's an outlet by the table. Send the message so we can get out of here already."

Olivia plugged her laptop in and turned it on, watching the excruciatingly slow boot up of the laptop after being drained for so long. Mira peeked through the blinds and saw Ramirez run somewhere just as a car pulled up in the construction site and four armed men get out of it.

"Kid, you better hurry."

"I'm going as fast as I can but this piece of shit won't start." Olivia said, slamming her fist on the table. The laptop's screen turned on and after a small yelp from Olivia, she got to work just as gunshots came from the outside.

"Don't stop kid." Mira ordered "No matter what happens, just get that message through."

Olivia nodded, keys on the keyborad clacking as Olivia typed furiously.

…

Maverick groaned as he got up, covered in dust and drywall. He pulled Clarke up as well and they ran just as more policemen ran to them. They yelled for them to stop but Maverick and Clarke just kept running.

The two of them heard gunshots, although they weren't meant for them. A quick turn around told them a few hitmen took the policemen out of the picture. Maverick yelled and fired at them, adding two more corpses on the ground. They continued running when multiple hitmen cut them off from the front. Thankfully, before they could fire, a wrecking ball dropped, crushing most of them and those that weren't were gunned down by Maverick and Clarke.

From the cockpit, Ramirez waved at them and told them to get out of there before swinging the wrecking ball again, hitting a load bearing pillar and sent a floor crashing down onto more hitmen that just entered the building.

"Go! I'll take care of them!" Ramirez yelled "Help Alvarez and the kid."

Maverick and Clarke ran to the contractor's office, Clarke barely managing to pull Maverick into cover before he got spotted. They were all focused on the office, firing at the windows and at the walls. From inside, Maverick could hear Mira cussing at them in her native tongue while firing back.

"We have to help them. Elena's not firing in bursts anymore, she's almost out."

"I can tell, but we're not exactly swimming in ammunition either." Clarke said "What do you suggest?"

Before Maverick could suggest anything, the last few cops came up from behind the hitmen and fired at them, taking a few out before the other hitmen lit them up, killing the last of the police in the area. Maverick and Clarke killed the remaining hitmen with the last of their ammunition.

They ran to the contractor's office. "Elena we're coming in don't shoot me this time."

The door opened just as they reached it and Mira pulled them inside before blocking the door with a desk. She pulled Maverick in for a kiss. "Thank god you're alive. I saw the grenade and I thought I was all that was left."

More unmarked cars filled with hitmen rolled into the construction site. "We have to go. You sent the message yet?" Maverick asked and Olivia nodded. The four of them ran out of the office and soon they had cars chasing them.

"Isabel we're making our way to you, get ready!" Clarke yelled into his comms and just as a car was about to hit them, a wrecking ball swung and hit the car's side, sending it flying into a pile of rebar. Ramirez swung the ball again and sent another car flying. The other hitmen stopped and fired at the cockpit of the crane making Ramirez run behind it, bullets whizzing past her head.

The hitmen approached the crane while still firing, pinning her down. While the others were running, Clarke stopped. "We have to help her!" he yelled.

"I have an idea." Maverick said, grabbing a propane tank for one of the welders. He grabbed a flare from an emegency kit nearby, lit it and taped it to the tank. He then rolled it towards them and once it was close enough he shot it, the blast sending every hitman into the air.

Clarke ran to Ramirez while the others picked up all the guns they can carry. They ran through the tconstruction site when Maverick spotted the highest accessible point in one of the buildings. "Go there, we can take them out as they come up."

They cut through an open area when Clarke noticed the red dot on Ramirez too little too late. A shot rang out and hit Ramirez, tearing her arm clean off. She fell to the ground, blood gushing out of her stump while the others fired at where they heard the shot from.

"Sniper!" Clarke yelled as he dragged Ramirez into cover. He looked at the others who hid as well. They were too far to reach them. He knew what needed to be done "Go, get out of here!"

"We're not leaving you!" Mira yelled back.

"That wasn't a request! Get the kid out of here now!"

Reluctantly, Maverick, Mira and Olivia ran to the inside of the building where the sniper could no longer see them so he turned his attention back to Clarke and Ramirez. Bits of concrete rained on them as the sniper slowly took apart their cover.

"Don't worry Isabel," Clarke said "I'm getting you out of here."

Ramirez weakly shook her head. "You have to leave me Franklin. Go with them, there's still time."

"No. We're either walking out of here or we'll be brought home in body bags. Either way, we're doing it together."

Ramirez grabbed him with her remaining arm and pulled him in for a kiss. "Promise me you'll get out of here." She said before pulling him out of the way and grabbing the grenade from his vest. She ran out of cover where the sniper then took her head off, but not before she got the grenade at his feet.

Clarke saw her headless body drop to the ground while the sniper exploded in the background. He didn't have much time to grieve her death when more hitmen began to push his position, forcing him to run back to the side of the unfinished building.

…

Maverick, Mira and Olivia reached the top floor when they got spotted by more hitmen from across the floor. They barely made it to cover when they began to fire at them. Maverick fired a few rounds with his rifle before ducking behind cover again.

"I'm down to my pistol Elena, how much ammo do you have left?"

"I'm almost out too." Mira said, loading her last few shells in her shotgun. She was about to re-peek when Olivia stopped her.

"I have an idea, just wait for them to get closer." Olivia said as she pulled her laptop out.

Bullets whizzed past them as the hitmen approached, getting closer and closer to doming one of them. "Any day now kid!"

Olivia was staring at the screen of her laptop. "A little bit closer." She said before typing furiously on her keyboard. A second later, they heard a beep and the claw holding the rebar on top of the hitmen opened, crushing all of them into the ground.

The three of them kicked the door to the roof open and Maverick blocked it with a cement mixer while Mira blasted the hitmen on the roof with her shotgun.

"That's it Erik. I'm completely empty."

Maverick loaded a mag into his pistol and pulled the slide back. "This is my last one."

"Nine rounds?"

Maverick smirked. "And a dream."

The hitmen wasted no time, already trying to break down the door as the three of them got into cover. Maverick aimed his pistol at the door when someone began to shoot them from behind. He ducked before looking at the unfinished building next to them where more hitmen had arrived.

He was about to shoot back when Clarke came up from behind the hitmen and kicked them both down the building before picking up one of their rifles and shooting the hitmen that just managed to break through the door to the roof. More hitmen arrived to swarm him and he ran to the platform that connected the two building where Maverick took them out once they were in his sight.

They heard more gunshots then Clarke emerged through the door, wiping the blood from his face as he tossed his empty rifle aside.

"How much longer?" Clarke asked.

"I don't know."

Clarke cussed as he picked up a rifle and threw it to Mira. "Anyone that gets past us kill them, you understand?"

Maverick and Clarke aimed at the door as more footsteps signaled a new batch of hitmen coming their way.

"No matter what happens, don't let them get to the kid."

They fired the second they saw a hostile and didn't stop firing until they had retreated. Just as they thought they finally had a break a grenade landed at their feet and blew the doorway up. Maverick landed flat on his back with some concrete pinning his leg down. Clarke went to help him up when he heard the hitmen going through the rubble then he stopped.

"What are you doing? Help me up."

"They're going to get through that and Alvarez won't have enough bullets." Clarke said "If they get to the kid Isabel would've died for nothing. I can't let that happen."

"I understand now get me up so we can take them on together."

Clarke shook his head. "No. You still have someone left to live for."

The hitmen got through the ruble and before Maverick could object, Clarke ran into the crowd of hitmen and threw them all off the roof, taking himself with them. Maverick managed to lift the concrete enough for him to slide his leg out. He grabbed his pistol just in time to shoot the hitman that went through the door and he saw Mira fire her rifle as well, taking out any hitmen that even tried to go through.

Mira stopped shooting and ran over to Maverick to help him get up. He put his arm around her and they limped back to Olivia when a helicopter flew overhead and shone a spotlight on them. They stood still under it.

"Erik I'm out. What do we do?"

"There's nothing we can do." Maverick said as he let go of her and got to his knees. Mira did so as well, mouthing a sorry to Olivia. Sorry that they couldn't protect her. That they couldn't save her. Maverick closed his eyes as the people in the helicopter rappelled down. He heard a few gunshots and hoped that they would at least make it quick.

But he was never shot.

"Jesus man your leg's all kinds of fucked up."

Maverick knew that voice anywhere. He opened his eyes and saw Buck, standing over him and offering his hand.

"You got the message." He said as he took his hand and they entered the helicopter where Olivia and Mira were being checked for injuries. Once they were set, Jager flew them out of the construction site. Maverick couldn't help but look down at the warzone that they had been in only minutes before.

He slept on the way back, waking up in the medbay for treatment of his leg. On the chair next to his bed was Mira, who got up the second he was awake.

"Elena? What happened?"

"Once we got back Doc and the other medical staff took you here to take a look at your leg." Mira said "I took Olivia to Six and she said she'll take care of her from there. She also informed the FBI about the death's of Clarke and Ramirez."

Maverick's expression turned serious. "It was just supposed to be an extraction. They were dragged into all this and they paid the price for it."

Mira nodded. "Their sacrifices will be honored."

Maverick held Mira's hand and pulled her in for a kiss. "You said Six will take care of Olivia once you got back. Where is she now?"

"Six didn't say anything, for security reasons according to her. I can only hope its somewhere safe."

"Me too."

/

Olivia's helicopter landed on a remote area where multiple Team Rainbow operatives had escorted her to the house near the base. Once they helped her settle in, they greeted her before leaving, although Olivia knew she'd never really be left alone, and with all that she'd gone through, that didn't sound so bad.

She looked around. The house itself was nice enough, hot showers and three meals a day, not to mentions the whole security team that focuses on nothing but her safety. Hell, they even gave her access to the internet. And yet, despite finally having all the luxuries she'd never had before, there was something missing. She didn't feel complete.

Olivia had no idea what was in store for her, but she did know one thing.

She felt more at home when she was with Mira.

.

.

.

 **So yeah, the end. This wasn't as long as the first one, mainly because this is just a Mira x Maverick fanfic with a little plot sprinkled on top so once they got together there was not much left to do but finish the story and that's what I did. I'm on break from school at the moment so I have more time to write and I already have something planned. It should be up in a week or two.**


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